The Curse of the Robotnik Name
by Serial Killer Faximile
Summary: Metal Sonic, killer robot programmed to hate and destroy. When he learns emotions he becomes fond of Eggman's daughter which he had to cure. But Maria sent her warning... The curse of the Robotnik name will meet its victims, and Metal's life will be filled with horror throughout every adventure.
1. The Guardian of Callie

_**Disclaimer**_

**I do not own any characters used within this story, except for Callie and other OC's. Techno-Matter is my friend's OC. Characters except for OC's are copyright to SEGA.**

_**The Curse of the Robotnik Name**_

Eggman, IQ of 300 evil genius, was trying to help his unnamed daughter. She was a mere infant, dying of a disease. According to what he had discovered, she needed the strength that only a robot possessed to survive. Eggman stroked his moustache in thought, knowing that not all robots were a worthy choice. "Let me think…" Eggman murmured. "Who is my most successful robot yet?" Eggman thought, and then snapped his fingers. "Metal Sonic!" Eggman then called his worthy copy of Sonic to him.

Metal entered the room. "I am here, master," he informed. "Metal," Eggman began. "You have heard about my daughter, haven't you?" Metal nodded. "Well, she's dying. She needs your help to survive," Eggman continued. Metal looked at the unconscious baby, and his scanners told him what to do – he had to share his energy with her.

Metal made his way over to the child, who was attached to a life support system. She looked as if she was dying, and Metal knew that 'dying' could only be stopped with a 'cure'. Metal was given the power to heal injuries with his hands, so placed one of his hands where the girl's heart was. He used his healing power heal all of her injuries, meaning that he had to fuse powers with her. Metal took in her pain, which he could not feel, and Eggman's daughter took in Metal's strength, abilities, intelligence and a bit of his personality. The young infant in a black baby-grow then opened her green eyes.

The daughter of Eggman reached her hand out for Metal's, taking hold of it and giggling like any baby would do. Metal wasn't sure how to react, until he decided to pick her up. The infant giggled, grabbing Metal's nose. "She seems to look up to you as a guardian," Eggman said. Metal turned. "Guardian?" he asked. Eggman nodded once. "You were the first thing she saw," he explained. "Hopefully you don't malfunction and tear off her head. But because you're her guardian, you can name her." Metal looked at the baby, confused. He thought for a moment, until a name popped into his mind. "Callie," he said. "The name my cousin, Maria, was going to be called?" Eggman asked. "Affirmative," Metal replied. "Fine, then. But you need to help raise Callie," Eggman said. "And make sure she never gets hurt," "Understood, master," Metal responded.

At first Metal wasn't so sure what to do with an organic baby. He had to change her – and her clothes. Metal began wondering – why was Callie so… different compared to everyone in the base? She was mostly similar to Eggman, in a way. But despite the differences, Metal thought that Callie was… sweet. That's probably the first time he ever thought a decent comment on something. Metal, a murderous killing machine, liked a human.

**Metal's Digital Log**

Eggman has made me bring life to a defenceless being of flesh. I don't understand – why? She'll never be a use. But… I like her. She's unique and… nice, by the looks of things. EMMI explained to me that non-robots grow over years, so maybe she'll change.

**-Metal Sonic**

_Five years later…_

Metal looked as if he was walking around the base like a secret agent. He looked around warily, as if hoping not to get attacked by someone. Before he could notice, Callie jumped from a small foothold in the wall and onto Metal; taking him down. "I gotcha!" Callie giggled. Metal laughed a little, too. "So you did, Callie," he said. Callie stood back up, and so did Metal. "You're training has improved since last month." Callie smiled. "So I'm doing good?" she asked. "Affirmative," Metal answered. Callie fiddled with her long, black-brown hair, slightly proud of herself. 'Over the past five years, she has changed,' Metal thought. 'She is no longer in the so-called 'baby-grow', instead in a black dress and black shoes. Now her hair has grown, and she speaks differently.'

EMMI then came in the room. "How's it going, Metal?" she asked. "Callie is doing better than last time," Metal replied. "Good to hear that, Callie!" EMMI smiled, looking at Callie. Callie smiled back. EMMI looked back at Metal. "Metal, Eggman is torturing a young hedgehog for answers. Do you think that what he's doing is sorta… wrong?" she asked. She, Metal and Callie then heard a shriek of agony. "Metal, what was that?" Callie asked, clinging onto Metal's arm. "Remain here, Callie; I and EMMI will see to it," Metal replied. Callie let go of Metal's arm, leaving him and EMMI to see to the hedgehog in pain.

The two robots peeked around the door, horrified to see a young hedgehog crying in pain; begging for Eggman to stop hurting him. "P-Please just let me go!" the hedgehog cried. "Not until you tell me where Knothole is!" Eggman replied. "I'll never tell you!" the hedgehog replied. "Then consider yourself DEAD!" Eggman laughed. The grey hedgehog continued crying, frightened. Eggman poured salt into the cut-open chest belonging to the hedgehog. The hedgehog screamed a bloodcurdling scream, not being able to bear the pain.

"The poor kid," EMMI sighed. "I would help him, but Eggman would use me as a replacement. Come on, Metal." EMMI began walking away, but Metal looked back at the hedgehog. He used his scanners to identify him.

_Name: Klaus "Kludd" the Hedgehog_

_Age: 11_

_Life Data: 67% Life Abolished_

_Enemy_

Metal ignored the enemy part, already knowing that would show up. "11 years old…?" he asked himself. "Why would Eggman torture an 11 year-old for answers?" Metal researched Klaus, finding out a little bit more.

_Klaus the Hedgehog is an 11 year-old sniper known to many as Kludd or the Metal Sniper. He is orphaned and is a Freedom Fighter living in the hidden location of Knothole. In his sniping time he is partnered with Fang, Jemima or Skagui. Klaus once attempted an assassination on Doctor Eggman, and is now missing._

Metal gave Kludd a sorry look, then catching up with EMMI. "It's about time you caught up," she said to him. The two then saw Callie waiting where she was earlier. "Metal, I'm bored," she complained. "Why don't you go on your PS2?" EMMI suggested. "Okay!" Callie replied, running to the gaming room. AKA: her bedroom.

After Callie went into her bedroom, she began playing on her PS2 on a game called _'Ratchet & Clank'. _She had never heard of the Sonic games, as Eggman never let her have them. Callie wasn't even allowed out of the base – ever. She always wondered why, and wondered why the robots were allowed out, but not her. Callie always dreamt about going outside, though Metal did tell her than one day he would take her out with him.

_Elsewhere in the base…_

"Metal, did you figure out why Eggman is abusing that poor hedgehog child?" EMMI asked. "Because he tried to assassinate him not to long ago," Metal answered. EMMI looked rather confused. "That kid tried to kill Eggman?" she asked. "Yes," Metal replied. "Because Eggman killed his parents," "What?" EMMI gasped. "Why would he do such a thing?" "To wipe out the living population," Metal answered. "Fang the Sniper saved him and trained him," "What's his name?" EMMI asked. "Klaus," Metal replied. "But most people call him Kludd."

Just then, Techno-Matter entered the room. "Metal, it's your assignment," he informed. Metal attempted a sigh. "Just… let me say goodbye to Callie," he said, walking to Callie's room. He opened the door, seeing her playing the PS2. She paused the game, and looked at him. "Callie, I have to go now," Metal explained. "Again?" Callie asked. "Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it," Metal assured. "But… what if that meanie hedgehog destroys you?" Callie asked. "Callie, it's only a few days," Metal replied. "Sonic can't destroy me, you know that." Callie then jumped at Metal, tightly hugging him. Metal was still, before he hugged her in return. He could then see Callie crying. He knew how to cheer her up after his last five years of experience.

"What's this?" Metal asked. "Callie the Sonic Destroyer crying? Maybe I'm in the wrong room," "No, I'm not crying!" Callie heroically yelled, jumping onto her bed striking a heroic battle-pose. "I am Callie the Sonic Destroyer! I cry at nothing!" Metal would have smiled. "That's my favourite little human," he said, leaving. "I'll see you later, Callie," "I love you, Metal!" Callie waved off, as Metal left the room. Callie, after a few seconds, continued to play her game.

Eggman was waiting for Metal inside his hovercraft. "You're late," he said. "What took you so long?" "Forgive me, master," Metal apologized. "I was just saying goodbye to Callie," "I see you've bonded with her, then," Eggman acknowledged. "Well, you know what to do now, don't you?" "I must keep Sonic from destroying the Death Egg," Metal replied. "Okay, you seem to know your job. Then follow me." Eggman flew out of the base in his little aircraft as Metal followed behind, until making it to space and aboard the new Death Egg a few days later.

**-Eggman's Ground Base-**

EMMI came into Callie's room. "Are you alright?" she asked. "I'm okay, thank you," replied Callie. "It's just weird that Metal is in space," "Oh, he'll be fine!" EMMI guaranteed. "He's Metal Sonic! The Sonic copy that is never defeated!" "I thought that Sonic was _his_ copy," Callie responded, confused. EMMI sighed. "He thinks that," she revealed. "In his programming he was programmed to think that he was the original Sonic, and that Sonic is a flesh copy of him," "Haven't you tried to tell him that he's a copy?" Callie asked. "Yes," EMMI answered. "But he doesn't believe it," 'Why aren't I like that?' Callie thought.

**-The Death Egg-**

Metal was waiting in a boxing ring, prepared for anything. He waited for either Sonic or another challenger, until finally Sonic arrived. "I should've known I'd be fighting you, Metal Sonic!" he snarled. "You might not even get a fight if I kill you quick enough, faker!" Metal teased. "It's you who won't get the fight done, Metal!" Sonic countered. "You're the faker in this room!" "Whoever wins is the real Sonic!" Metal declared. "So be it!" Sonic responded, spin-dashing into Metal and knocking him over. Metal used the laser in his chest to fire at Sonic.

Sonic ran up to Metal, stamping on his foot. "Ha! You cannot hurt me by – OOF!" Sonic had thrown Metal over. Metal got back up, before Sonic dived onto him. Metal grabbed hold of Sonic, flying upwards, and then throwing him back down into the boxing ring. Sonic then kicked Metal a few times, until finally using spin-dash on him again. "Looks like I win round one!" Sonic sniggered, doing his smug finger gesture.

Another round had come and gone, and Sonic was yet again the winner. He was now moving onto Eggman, leaving Metal knocked out. Metal awakened at the sound of the 15 second self-destruct alarm. Immediately Metal sprung back to his feet, leaving the ring and to the escape room, waiting beside Eggman's aircraft. Eggman was then seen quickly running towards it, jumping in. "Come on, Metal!" he yelled, taking off. "Yes, master!" Metal reacted, following behind and escaping back to the ground base.

**-Eggman's Ground Base-**

_Three days later…_

Callie watched as Eggman returned with Metal, who thankfully looked unharmed. "Metal!" she gleefully exclaimed, running up and jumping into a hug. Metal almost fell back, but managed to regain his balance. "It's good to see you again, Callie," Metal replied. "I thought you weren't coming back," Callie smiled, holding back tears. "That's what you said last time, but what did I do?" Metal asked rhetorically. "I came back," "But you were damaged badly," Callie added. "But I was tough, wasn't I?" Metal asked. "You didn't think that a blue hedgehog copy was enough to stop _me_ now, did you?" "No, I didn't," Callie replied.

That night, when Callie and Eggman were asleep with the other robots in their lock-up chambers, Metal crept down to where Kludd was being held. He looked at the hedgehog which lay dying on the table. Metal came up beside him, seeing his half-conscious eyes looking up at him, attempting an afraid look. Metal used both of his hands to heal Kludd's injuries, as he did with Callie in the past. All of the blood, bruises and inside injuries were healed, but Kludd fell unconscious due to the stress and fear.

Metal found a towel which Eggman used to clean the blood off himself with, wrapping it around Kludd. He flew out of the base with the young hedgehog still in his arms, until finally arriving at the Great Forest. Metal placed him somewhere safe, as he did not know where Knothole was. Leaving Kludd, Metal returned to base. Before he got back into his lock-up chamber, he went to the CCTV room and erased the footage of him rescuing Kludd. After deleting that, he happily returned to his lock-up chamber and shut down for the night.

Back upstairs, Callie had woken up from her sleep. She tip-toed around in her black gown and black slippers, heading to a room which Eggman told her to never go in. Callie was cheeky, and found herself entering. Everything inside wasn't that secret to her mind, until she caught sight of a photograph of a blonde girl in a blue dress. "Who is that?" she asked.


	2. Who is this Maria?

_***To let you know all OC's appearances are on my profile* **_

Callie looked at the photo, curious. She then looked around at the other things in the room. A blue dress was hanging on a coat-hanger, with a hole through it and red around the hole; looking as if it had once been a red liquid dripping off. The dress was exactly the same as the one the girl in the photo was wearing, except without the hole and red liquid. Callie found another picture of the girl still wearing the same dress, this time with a black and red hedgehog. The two in the photo were smiling, happy for no particular reason. "Somehow those two remind me of myself and Metal…" Callie pinioned. She began searching the room again, finding a battered, old journal.

"Belonging to… Maria Robotnik…" Callie read, dusting the dust off of the front cover, seeing two pictures of the girl – when she was young and when she was older. Callie flicked through the yellow-brown pages, seeing photographs on certain pages; of Maria and the hedgehog. She discovered more and more about Maria, finding out that her first word was "Grandfather", and that the hedgehog was called Shadow. After reading more pages, the rest of the diary was blank. "What happened to her?" Callie asked herself. "And why was I told to keep out of this room?" Just as she said that, the brighter light switched on. Callie turned around.

For a moment Callie thought that she would face Eggman, but instead it was Metal. "You're not supposed to be in here," he reminded. "I know…" Callie sighed, putting the journal back. "I was just so… curious about this room," "I understand that's how a child's mind works," Metal replied. "But Eggman ordered you to stay out of here," "But why?" Callie asked. "What's so special about this room?" "I was given strict commands not to tell you anything," Metal responded. Callie sighed childishly. "I'll ask Eggman then," she said, not calling him dad like most children do with their parents; walking towards the door. Metal stopped her with his arm, pushing her back gently. "Callie, you cannot do that," he said. "Awe, why not?" Callie asked. "Because I'll be deactivated by Eggman," Metal answered.

Callie understood that deactivation wasn't something to joke about, so let out a defeated sigh. "Alright, I understand," she said. Metal placed his hand on her shoulder, kneeling down to her level. "Now you promise to never speak of what you've seen in this room," he commanded. "I promise," Callie swore. "That's a good girl," Metal responded, wishing he could smile to her. "Now you go back to bed and get some shut-eye." Metal stood up, and turned around, leaving. Callie left after him, heading back to her bedroom to get some more sleep.

_The next morning…_

"All robots assemble!" Eggman ordered through the intercom. Hearing this also woke Callie up. She rubbed her eyes and stretched, getting dressed and sneaking to see what the robots were needed for. Was it something bad? Perhaps they were all going a dangerous mission.

Every robot stood in the assembly hall, which was extremely large and spacey, in lines and standing straight. "Overnight my hedgehog prisoner, Kludd, had somehow escaped," Eggman began. "The CCTV footage was erased from last night, and only you robots and I know where the CCTV room is and how to erase it, which must mean one of you did it." Metal tried his best to stay in character, knowing that it was him who did it. "I will soon find out which one of you did it by checking all of your memory banks, and the traitor will be deactivated," Eggman continued. Metal almost lost himself by that point, but managed to restrain his fear.

Hiding behind a corner, Callie gasped. "A robot traitor?" she asked herself. "Does that mean one of my friends is going to be deactivated?" Callie sneaked away, back into her bedroom. "I can't let one of my friends be deactivated!" she exclaimed, worried. "What if it's Metal? I don't want to lose him!" Callie began panicking, desperate to help the traitor. But for a start, she didn't even know who the traitor was, and second, what would happen to her? And what could she possibly do to help?

Back downstairs in the assembly hall, Eggman was checking all of the robots' memories. He was unable to check EMMI's, as she would feel too much pain. But if it was none of the other robots, then he would know that it was her. It was impossible to be Callie, because she didn't know how to wipe CCTV data or even enter the room; she didn't even know about Kludd being prisoner. Eggman had come round to checking Metal's memory bank, discovering that it was him who pulled off the betrayal.

"Metal?" he asked, annoyed. "Why did you disobey me?" "Forgive me, master," Metal apologized. "I was told to in my mind. I could feel an emotion…" "You don't have any emotions!" Eggman shot back. "You're a killing machine who can only obey me and can think of nothing else but killing!" "Then what was I supposed to think about when with Callie?" Metal asked. Angry, Eggman couldn't answer. Metal wanted an answer from him, but it didn't seem as if he would get one, until he did. "That's why he did it," EMMI answered to both. Eggman and Metal looked at her. "He did it because spending so much time with Callie has made him realise that not everything should end in pain." Eggman and Metal both thought, surprised.

EMMI continued. "Doctor, a robot cannot serve two completely different purposes – one two protect the organics and another to destroy." Eggman stroked his moustache, thinking. "For once, my own creation is right," he sighed. "Maybe you being my greatest destroying machine and protector of my daughter is quite hard for your programming to bear, Metal," "I can do it, master," Metal assured. "I'll still be able to fight my copy, Sonic," "But what about his friends?" Eggman asked. "I could still fight them," Metal answered. "And what about the other citizens, such as children?" Eggman asked. Metal didn't answer for a minute. "No, master," he admitted.

"Then it's settled," Eggman finalized. "Being with Callie is making you too soft. Maybe you should take some time away from her," "Wrong again," EMMI corrected. "There is no way to change him now," "Why not?" Eggman questioned. "Because he has fused personalities with Callie in the past. He can't change," EMMI answered. "That's believable," Eggman admitted. He then sighed. "Very well, the point is fair. Metal, you don't get to be deactivated. But if you ever disobey me deliberately, then that would be immediate deactivation," "Understood, master," Metal replied. All robots, including him, were dismissed.

Metal then caught up beside EMMI. "Hey, EMMI…" he began. "Thanks for sticking up for me back there," "See? You can't handle all things alone," EMMI joked. "I know," Metal admitted. "But thank you," "No problem," EMMI replied. "It would be no fun here without you around," "And I still need to defeat that flesh copy of mine," Metal added. EMMI gave a little laugh. The two then entered Callie's room, seeing that she was awake and worried.

"Callie, are you alright?" EMMI asked. "I'm confused," Callie replied. "A hedgehog prisoner… a traitor to be deactivated… I just don't understand…" Metal attempted a sigh. "Listen, Callie, I've got a few things to explain to you," he began, sitting on the bed beside her. "You understand that all in this base are at war with the Freedom Fighters, don't you?" he asked. "Yes," Callie nodded. "Well, not all of them are bad," Metal continued. "They're not?" Callie asked, surprised. "No, some of them are just tortured souls," Metal answered. "One of them was a young hedgehog who tried to assassinate Eggman to avenge the death of his parents, which Eggman held prisoner for a few days." Callie, understanding, nodded her head. "But I was told in my free half to help the hedgehog, so I did."

There was a silence. "So you're the traitor?" Callie asked. Metal nodded. "…Does that mean you're being deactivated?" Callie hesitated to ask. "No," Metal replied. Callie was confused. "But… I heard Eggman say that the traitor would be deactivated," she recalled. "You heard right," Metal replied. "But because of my two jobs I was excused," "So… nobody will be deactivated?" Callie asked, happy. "Nobody will be deactivated," Metal echoed. Callie smiled joyfully. "Remember, Callie; I'll never be deactivated," Metal reminded. "So you keep that in your mind, and never worry about me. Okay?" Callie nodded in response. "Okay, now you play while I find out when I'm next out," "Yes, Metal," Callie replied. Metal attempted a happy look, and then walked out of the room with EMMI, closing the door behind him.

"Well, I suppose I should leave you to your things," EMMI said. "Catch you later, Mets." Metal waved to EMMI, going the opposite direction to her. He took time to get to Eggman, timing himself. It took him five minutes. After arriving at the door, he opened it by the passcode. Eggman was awaiting him inside.

"I presume you're here to know when you're next assignment is?" Eggman guessed. "Correct, master," Metal answered. "Well, I've planned you to challenge Sonic in a race next year…" Eggman read on his screen. "A-ha! I've got a more violent job for you next week!" "What do you mean by violent?" Metal asked. "I need you to destroy the Great Forest" answered Eggman. "All of it. And once you destroy it all, you'll be able to find Knothole – and destroy it!" "But what if I can't kill?" Metal asked. "Then I'll send Mecha Sonic and new Steel Sonic to finish the job," Eggman answered. "How will they find me?" Metal asked. "Send them your coordinates," Eggman responded. "Or stand outside the entrance. You're choice, really," "Alright, I'll get prepared," Metal replied. He turned on his heel, exiting the room.

Back in her bedroom, Callie was drawing pictures of what she thought she would see outside. She drew like an average five year-old, and she drew the sky blue with white stripes. The stripes in the sky were supposed to be clouds. The trees were planks of wood with green ovals, meaning to be leaves. She drew about 14 different pictures of what outside was like. One day she would know – one day she would see outside for real.

Taking her mind off the 'outside' topic, Callie began thinking about the girl, Maria. What frightened her was that in a way she was the same as her. Not by looks, but in other ways. She had artificial life which saved her, never got to see the outside of her home, her last name was Robotnik and even had the same dress and shoes but in blue. Was Maria her mother? Her sister? Her grandmother?

Callie wanted answers. There was a reason Maria was so secret to the family. Even Metal would not tell her. What was so special about her? And where was she to this day? Still aboard the space colony? On Earth? Wherever she was, it must have been a long time since the diary was written and the photos were taken.

Night had come, and Metal had to wash himself. He got a sponge and a bucket of soapy water, dipping the sponge into the water. After dunking it a few times to get it wet enough, he wringed it out and began scrubbing himself. His arms, his legs, his head, his body, etc. After sponge-washing himself, he got a hosepipe and rinsed himself with it. Now finally all he needed to do was stand in the large drier and dry himself off. He spread out his arms and his legs so that the air could get to his body completely. 8 minutes passed, and he was fully dry. He shimmered like a precious jewel, and was 100% squeaky clean. Metal was ready to go back to his recharge capsule, hoping that Callie was ready for hers, in other words, ready for bed.

Metal found his capsule at last, his name carved in it. He opened it up, climbed inside, and locked himself in, shutting down.

Callie, at this time, was supposed to be in bed and asleep. In bed she was, but asleep she wasn't. She was too busy thinking. Thinking about her future, Maria and Metal. The one that remained on her mind the most was Maria. Who was she? And how could she found out who she was if nobody would help her? Metal wouldn't tell her, and he told her to never speak of going in that room. 'Maybe in a few years or so I'll find out," Callie thought, being patient. She then rolled onto her side, closing her eyes and falling asleep.

_The next day…_

It was not yet time for Metal's mission, which was next week. He was already trained, so decided to have a bit of fun. He never really has fun in the base. But how could he have fun? He asked himself that in his mind, until EMMI came up to him. "Hey, Metal, do you wanna play hide and seek with us?" she asked. "With who?" Metal asked. "All of us! We don't have any missions or chores today!" EMMI answered, smiling. "Including Callie!" "Alright," Metal replied. "I'll count." Metal began counting, until reaching the number sixty. "Ready or not, here I come!" he yelled.

The base was pretty huge, so it was going to be hard to find anybody. Metal first tried the lock-up room, looking inside other lock-up capsules and around. Nobody was inside. To make sure, Metal adjusted his hearing to either hear movement or breathing. He heard neither. So he made up his mind that nobody was hiding in there.

Metal looked around the base, entering the laboratory. He heard a movement and breathing. There was only and option of two hiding in here – either EMMI or Callie. Metal searched warily, until finding EMMI hiding behind one of the control panels. "You found me!" she smiled. "Have you found anyone else?" "Not yet," Metal replied. "But I will soon."

After about one hour Metal had found all, except from Callie. 'No doubt she's in that memorial room again,' Metal thought, entering the room. Surprisingly, she wasn't in there. Metal tilted his head in confusion. "Odd," he said. "Then where is she?" Metal began walking around in his 007 walk again. He walk right to the other side of the base, and used his flesh-scanners. Anything which was flesh would come up green to his red sights. Fifteen minutes later, Metal found a green figure on his readings, crouching down. He imagined a smile on his face. Metal peeked around the corner, seeing Callie crouched down, giggling when she saw him. "I found you," Metal said.

**Metal's Digital Log**

It took me an hour and fifteen minutes to find Callie today in hide and seek. She's a magnificent hider – who ever thought she would hide in the abandoned room? I think I'm starting to like Callie a bit. She's changed over the years, which still confuses me. Yet, we still struggle to understand each other. I think that she understands me than I understand her. But I digress, she's a nice human. Soon I will show her the outside – very soon.

**-Metal**


	3. Growing Pains

The next week had come, and Metal had to do his newest mission. He had to destroy the Great Forest, and then find the secret location of Knothole. It couldn't be that hard, could it? All he had to do was destroy a few trees, cause a forest fire and then find the entrance to the place where all Freedom Fighters hid. But Metal didn't want to hurt Klaus. And he had to get Steel and Mecha to finish the job if he suffered from hesitation. He didn't want to call them over, either. Metal wished that this would all just end – he wished that he could just spend time with Callie and have no more fighting.

Metal left to the Great Forest, blowing up trees and setting other trees alight. It was fun to him. More fun than he'd though it would be. Metal could feel his violence coming back to him, running through his wires. "Yes…" he chuckled to himself. He blew up more trees, and set more on fire. "Over there, Sonic!" a not-so-distant voice yelled, turning out to be Tails. Metal turned around. "Well, if it isn't Sonic and Tails!" he sneered. "Thought I trashed you up aboard the Death Egg II," Sonic responded. "Do you really think that you had destroyed me?" Metal asked. "I am the stronger one and the faster one!" "Well, if you're truly better than me, then why can you never defeat me?" Sonic asked. Metal didn't answer, but he knew what it was.

"Answerless, I see," Sonic reacted. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Metal replied. He then readied to charge at Sonic, but his 'copy' did the same. Both the two charged at each other from their distances, until he heard Callie's voice in his head. "Metal, we are the bad ones. Not them." Though Callie never really said this, her voice had a point. Metal lost focus on attacking, and was knocked down by Sonic. He fell back onto the floor, but didn't bother to get back up. Sonic looked down at him. "Looks like the real Sonic wins once again," he declared. "I AM the real Sonic!" Metal replied. "Then why do people call you Metal?" Sonic asked. Metal, again, didn't answer. "Sorry, Metal-head, but there can only be one Sonic – and that's me! Come on, Tails!" With that, Sonic and his young partner, Tails, ran back to Knothole, claiming it to be another success.

Not long later, Metal got back to his feet. He could easily carry on the mission if he wanted to, but he didn't want to finish it. Now he just wanted to get back to the base and be with Callie. He wanted to be with her and his robot friends, and he wanted to get to meet that Steel Sonic robot a lot more. So Metal turned back and returned to his base – his home – to see his family.

Returning to the base, Metal found Callie waiting for him. "Metal, you're back early!" she exclaimed. "What happened?" "I'll tell you later, Cal," Metal replied, walking away to get a wash. "Cal?" she asked herself, smiling. She then went to go and have a shower.

_Four years later…_

**Metal's Digital Log**

So my best friend in the base is Steel Sonic, but Callie is definitely the one I'll never be separated from. For the last few years I've been calling her Cal, and that seems to have spread around the base – even Eggman calls her it. Well, now she's nearly nine years-old, and she is improving on her physical training, along with her quick-wit training. Now this year is when I can take her outside – hopefully.

**-Metal**

It was Callie's ninth birthday, and Metal had planned a very special event. She hadn't woken up yet, so Metal and the other robots had to get ready. It wasn't exactly a birthday party every child would get, but Callie would love it. Something she's been waiting to see for nine years – the outside.

"So, Metal, where are we taking Callie when she sees the outside?" asked Metal Scourge. "Somewhere she wants to see," Metal answered. "But that's practically everything," Steel corrected. Metal looked at them both. "She wants to see the real outside," he said. "There is another part of the planet with real environment; we only live on a small part of the planet," "And you're taking her there?" Metal Knuckles asked. "Yes," Metal answered.

The group then heard Callie coming down the metal steps. "She's coming," EMMI whispered. All robots stood in position, as Callie, confused, follow the big red arrows stuck on the wall. She saw all her friends standing down in the assembly hall. "Happy Birthday, Callie!" they all greeted. Callie was surprised.

Metal stepped forward. "Metal… did you plan this?" Callie asked. "With help from all of your friends," Metal answered. The others waved at her. "Oh, you guys are the best friends anyone could ever have!" Callie smiled. "Just wait until you see where I'm taking you," Metal replied. "Where we're all taking you," "Where?" Callie asked. "Take a wild guess," Metal responded. Callie thought. "Outside?" she guessed. "Got it right first time!" Metal answered. Callie smiled happily. "I… I never thought I'd see the outside!" she gasped. "Well, now you will," Metal replied. He held out his hand, and Callie took hold of it. Metal opened the large doors, and flew up high into the outside world.

While flying up high, Metal held Callie like how Buzz did with Woody, high up into the clouds. The robots with flight followed down low, while the others ran underneath. Callie felt the clouds with her hands, feeling the wetness of them. "I… I never imagined the outside to be like this…" she gasped with wonder and amazement. "It's so… beautiful!" Callie looked up at Metal, who looked back down at her.

Metal landed back down on the ground into a field of long grass. "Whoa…" Callie gasped. "Care for a free run?" Metal asked. Callie smiled, again taking his hand. Metal flew with his booster forwards, still holding Callie's hand. Callie felt the wind on her face, and felt the long grass tickle her. Metal himself felt a little free, and hoped that Sonic didn't come to ruin his friend's birthday.

The two then came to a stop by a tree. "And this is what a real tree looks like," Metal described. Callie was amazed. "Wow… the outside world is so different to how I imagined it!" she inhaled. "I wonder why Eggman never let me see it…" "To keep you safe," Metal answered. "He didn't want you to get lost, get captured, or maybe even turn against him," "But I'll never turn against him," Callie replied. The other robots then caught up with them.

"Seems like you two are having fun," Steel Sonic pointed out. "The outside world is amazing, you know," Callie responded. "I mean look at it! I just can't get over how different it is compared to the base," "You'll get used to it, kid," Mecha Sonic informed. "Yeah, he's right," Silver Sonic agreed. "But you can enjoy it while you like it," "Well, to make it more fun we could explore," Callie suggested. "But where should we explore?" Steel asked. "Everywhere!" Callie answered happily. "Sounds good to me," Silver Sonic II agreed. "After all, we never get to do our own things," "Alright then, let's go and explore that old building over there!" Callie pointed. She ran forwards towards the building, followed by the other robots.

"L-L-Looks pretty creepy," Steel shivered. "Nothing we can't handle, Steel," Callie replied, putting her arm around him. "Come on; Metal and I will stay by your side," "O-Okay," Steel reacted. "Alright – let's go!" Callie commanded, walking through the doors. Tails Doll glided past her, liking the environment which he was about to enter. Callie wasn't afraid either, in fact, nobody was. Only Steel hesitated to go in.

The building was dark, and there was no power to switch on the lights. In fact, there were no lights at all. The building was so old that the lights weren't invented. All robots used their night vision, but Callie could naturally see in the dark due to Metal's power merging with her as a baby. "Metal, Steel, follow me, you guys follow me," Callie said. "And you guys can split up, or you can stay as a group." With that, the three split up from the team to explore on their own.

"This building is… cool!" Callie smiled. "I think it's creepy," Steel pinioned. "I agree with Callie," Metal agreed. "Even I've never seen such an awkward structure such as this." Callie giggled at the two. "Come on, you two, let's see what's through that creepy wooden door!" she pointed. Metal followed her, but Steel took his time. "Hurry up, Steel!" Callie called. "Ahhh, right, I'm coming!" Steel replied, rushing through the door, but slowing down again.

Callie wandered down the swirly, stone steps, followed by Metal and Steel. A spider landed on the top of Steel's head, making him shriek. He ran forward quickly, running into Metal. Metal fell forwards into Callie, and all three stumbled down the stairs until they reached the bottom. Steel was on the top of the pile, because he was behind them when falling down. He sat up and rubbed his head, Metal next, followed by Callie. Callie and Metal quickly shook their heads, looking at Steel angrily, who then shook his head fast, noticing their glare. Steel shrugged and let out a nervous laugh. "Let's go," Callie sighed, standing up. She looked around the room slowly.

Metal was the next to stand up, and then it was Steel. "Whoa…" Steel gasped. "This is… empty, yet cool," "I'm looking at the bomb," Callie replied. "Ah, the bomb," Steel nodded. His pixel eyes then widened, as did Metal's. "THE BOMB?" they both exclaimed, looking at each other.

"_One minute before detonation "_

"What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do?" Steel exclaimed with panic, running around. "Let's get outta here!" Callie answered. The three ran back up the steps, about to leave the building. Callie then skidded to a halt. "Wait, the others!" she remembered. "We have to go back and get them!" Metal and Steel nodded. "Let's go!" Metal exclaimed. The three split up, searching for their team with only one minute to spare.

Callie found EMMI and Techno-Matter exploring the attic. "Hey, Callie, where's Steel and Metal?" EMMI asked. "No time to talk, you have to get outta here!" Callie replied. "Why?" EMMI asked. "There's a bomb! Now go!" Callie answered. EMMI and Techno-Matter knew that when Callie ordered them to go, they had to go. So they did. Callie was on the search for more robots.

Metal used his scanners, finding Tails Doll, Metal Knuckles and Metal Scourge. "You three, get out of this building!" Metal commanded. "It's about to blow sky-high, so get out!" "What about you?" asked Metal Scourge. "Mettle, I'll manage to get out, now go!" Metal answered. The other three nodded, making a break for it.

Steel searched around, until finding Silver Sonic, Silver Sonic II, Mecha Sonic and Shadow Android. "Hey, Steel, how come you're by yourself?" Mecha asked. "Guys, we need to get out of here!" Steel replied. "We've found a bomb and it's about to set off!" "Then let's go!" Silver Sonic responded. The five flew out, meeting with Metal and the others. "Phew! We're all out!" Steel sighed with relief. "But Callie is still in there!" Metal countered. Seconds after he said that, the building blew up.

"Callie!" Metal yelled. There was still a burning wreckage of the building. Metal flew into the wreckage, hoping to find Callie in there. "Callie?" he asked, avoiding a pole which narrowly missed him. "Callie!" he yelled. "Metal!" a faint voice replied. "Callie!" Metal yelled, heading in the direction of the voice. He found the flooring broken with a fiery pit beneath, and Callie holding onto the edge. "Metal, help me!" she cried. Metal flew to her, but she lost her grip. "No!" Metal yelled. He swooped down and caught her before she was in the flames.

Metal flew past falling obstacles which were on fire, getting through tight spaces and flames. He finally saw the outside, and flew as fast as he could. As he had almost reached his exit, a large piece of the upper floor fell on fire. Metal knew that he wouldn't be able to make it, so threw Callie as the large chunk of flooring fell on top of him. Callie coughed as she stood back up. "Metal!" she yelled.


	4. Nerves of Steel

**Hey fourth chapter! Little low on reviews, so please review this story! Pretty please? Well, let's go on with this chapter and see what's happened to Metal!**

Callie used her strength to break down the wall, finding the broken piece of flooring on top of Metal. "Metal!" she yelled. She ran up to the flooring and lifted it off Metal, throwing it off him completely. Callie dragged Metal out of the flaming building. He was slightly crushed, some of his outer-armour broken off. "Don't worry, he's had worse damage before," EMMI informed. "I'll repair him," Callie confirmed. "It's my fault this happened to him, but we mustn't let the doctor know," "Then let's get back," EMMI said. "Callie, do you need our help?" "Don't worry, I can do it myself," Callie assured. "But it'll take time, so be patient," "Got it," all the other robots nodded.

After returning to base, Callie worked on Metal. The hardest part was fixing his crushed parts, but she managed it. After a few hours, Metal was fully repaired. His irises switched on. "Callie…" his quiet voice said. "You always try to scare me by doing things like that," Callie replied, smiling. "You saved my life," "That's what friends are for," Metal responded. "Anyway, I knew that I would come back." Callie smiled at Metal.

Metal got back to his feet, looking at himself. "Did you repair me?" he asked. "Yes, I did," Callie answered. "You did a good job," Metal praised. "It was the lessons I was taught throughout the years," Callie added. "And I'm sorry for getting you into that mess," "Don't be," Metal replied. "It was your first time outside, and you were curious. Now let's just forget about what happened with the bomb, okay?" "Okay," Callie nodded.

So for the rest of the day it was normal, and nobody mentioned the bomb or going outside. Callie had now got ready for bed, and Metal had got ready to recharge. Callie tucked herself under the black duvet, closing her eyes and trying to go to sleep. But though her eyes were closed, she could tell that something was glowing in her room. Callie opened her eyes.

There stood a glowing girl, transparent. To Callie, it looked like the girl out of the photographs. But her dress didn't have the hole and red around it. Callie stared with shock, until the girl spoke. "You're the daughter of my cousin, aren't you?" she asked. Callie still remained silent, until finally speaking. "Wait… are you Maria?" she asked. The girl nodded. "You must be the daughter," she said. "Doesn't that make me your cousin, too?" Callie asked. "It does," Maria answered. "And your name is Callie?" "How did you know my name?" asked Callie. "Because that was going to be my name," Maria replied.

"So, why are you here, Maria?" Callie asked. "And why are you so secret to the family?" Maria sighed. "I'm a ghost," she admitted. "I'm guessing you've seen my dress in that hidden room?" "Yes," Callie answered. "How did you know?" "I know everything," Maria answered. "Well, the dress may seem a bit different to the one I'm wearing, correct?" "Correct," Callie replied. "It's different because… I was shot," Maria revealed.

"You were_ shot_?" Callie asked, shocked. Maria nodded. "That's what the hole is," she described. "But what about the red around it?" asked Callie. "That was blood," Maria answered. "That was about 47 years ago from now," "Then what happened to Shadow when you were shot?" Callie hesitated to ask. Maria froze, silent. "He… he still grieves me," she finally answered. "Then why don't you see him as you are seeing me?" Callie suggested. "Because I am here to tell you my truth," Maria answered. "The answers you wanted to hear when you found out who I was."

"_Aboard the ARK, I and my grandfather lived to try and help mankind. I was never allowed on Earth, for I was crippled. My grandfather created an artificial hedgehog, known as Shadow, the ultimate life form. He was supposed to cure my disease, until G.U.N heard about him and thought that he was too dangerous. My grandfather ordered me to escape with Shadow, but I was shot before reaching the escape pod. I managed to help Shadow escape with the last of my strength, and I have no idea where he is to this day."_

Callie sat in awe and confusion. "I never knew that you died," she eventually admitted. "That's why I'm such a secret to your family," Maria replied. She then saw herself fading away. "My time is almost up, Callie," she discovered. "If you ever see Shadow, tell him that I'm okay," "I will," Callie assured. "Goodbye, younger cousin," Maria said, waving as she faded into nothing. After a few seconds of silence, Callie went back to sleep.

_The Next Morning…_

Surprisingly, Metal was 'sleeping in'. This wasn't a regular thing for him – usually he was up before Callie. But this time Callie was awake earlier, leaving Metal in peace. After all, he's been working hard recently. So while Metal was at rest, Callie was looking for EMMI, her 'girl-friend'. She managed to find her after about 5 minutes, but she didn't look too happy. "EMMI, what's up?" Callie asked. EMMI sighed. "The hedgehog Metal helped four years ago has been captured and robotocized," she announced. "You mean Klaus?" Callie asked. "Yes," EMMI answered. "And Eggman is trying to make him the strongest robot in the world!" "…Isn't that a good thing?" Callie asked. "Not if he goes out of control," EMMI replied. Callie stood in silence.

Mecha Klaus then met with the two. "Hey, you two!" he waved. "I'm quite new around here. Can you show me around?" "Sure," Callie answered. "Your name is Klaus, right?" "Hell no," Mecha Klaus answered. "I'm Metal Sniper," "Oh, well I'll still show you around," Callie assured. "EMMI, are you coming?" "I've got a mission to do in the future," EMMI answered. "Huh?" Callie asked. "Oh yeah! It must be awesome to be you," "It is," EMMI smiled. "Catch ya later, Cal!" With that, EMMI flew off.

Time had passed as Callie showed Sniper around, and Metal had now finally awakened. He stepped out of his capsule, embarrassed. "That's not usual," he mumbled. He checked his schedule, but he had no missions. He just shrugged, and went to find Callie. Callie had finished showing Sniper around now, and was looking for Metal. The two then crossed paths coincidentally. "Oh, hey, Metal," Callie greeted. "I was just looking for you," "I was trying to find you, as well," Metal compared. "Listen, Metal, Klaus has been robotocized," Callie rushed. "…What?" Metal asked. "Klaus has been robotocized, now he's the world's strongest robot, Metal Sniper," Callie described. Metal attempted a sigh. "I suppose that it's better than him dying painfully," he said. The intercom then tuned in.

"Metal Sonic and Steel Sonic!" Eggman called through the intercom. "The two of you must start building my latest robot called the 'Metal Overlord' in my blueprints room. I'll see to you to you in half an hour." Metal looked at Callie. "I'll have to speak to you later, Cal," he said. "I've got to start on this robot. See you later." Metal turned and charged his booster, flying forwards fast. He made it to the blueprints room, meeting up with Steel.

"This doesn't look so hard," Steel said, looking at the blueprints. "Let's build!" Steel got out a large stepladder so that he was prepared for doing the higher parts of the robot and the painting. The two began putting the parts of the robot together, and were already moving onto the painting.

_30 minutes later…_

Steel hadn't managed to keep track of time, painting the overlord blue – the same blue that Metal Sonic had coated on him. He had completely forgotten about Eggman coming in. The doors opened, and Eggman entered. This made Steel jump, causing him to fall off the stepladder, kick the bucket off paint over and fall right into the almost-complete Metal Overlord. The overlord came tumbling down, and the ladder fell on top of Steel. The bucket of blue pain fell on Eggman's head, and only Metal remained unscratched.

Steel pushed the stepladder off of him shaking his head quickly. He saw Eggman with the bucket on his head, and his irises shrunk. Eggman threw the bucket off his head, and the blue had disappeared because of the red on his face. "STEEL SONIC!" Eggman bellowed, steam coming from his ears. "GET OUT OF MY SIGHT! NOW!" Steel looked down, slowly walking out of the room. Eggman watched him leave, and then turned to Metal. "Metal, you may leave," he said. Metal left without any hesitation, moving as quickly as he could that would not make him look rude.

Callie saw Metal heading up the corridor. "You're done early," she said. "Define done…" Metal corrected. "What happened?" Callie asked. "Steel got frightened a bit, and knocked the project down," Metal explained. "That doesn't sound good," Callie gasped. "Is Steel okay now?" "Hopefully," Metal hoped. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

**-Somewhere Else-**

Steel sat in the cell room containing his cell, hiding behind it. He knew that surely he'd be deactivated now. He didn't even think about going out and searching for Metal or his other friends just in case Eggman found him. Steel was frightened, hoping that Metal would come searching for him. So Steel just sat there, waiting for something to happen out of interest.

Suddenly, a shadow covered over Steel. He didn't want to turn around, but he slowly did. Thankfully he wasn't looking into the guarded eyes of Eggman, but into the grass green eyes of Callie. He did a robotic sigh of relief. "It's only you, Callie…" he exhaled. "I was afraid that you were Eggman coming to deactivate me," "You shouldn't worry about that," Callie comforted, sitting beside him. "It was only an accident, and accidents always happen," "You know what he's like, he'll never forgive me," Steel corrected. "If he does deactivate me, please protect yourself, and make sure the others do, as well," "You won't be deactivated," Callie assured. "I'll protect you if anything does happen," "I appreciate your concern," Steel replied. "But you won't be able to talk me out of being deactivated." Callie put her arm around Steel, making him look at her. "Everything's gonna be alright. I promise you, Steel," she promised. "You don't need to hide in here; it will do you no good. Just act like nothing's happened. That past is in the past, and that's where it stays."

**-With Metal-**

Not as usual, Metal was talking to Techno-Matter. "Come on, Tech, the kid's only nine years old," Metal reminded. "You can't expect her to be able to fend for herself that easily," "Training is useless if not using live combat or ammunition," Techno-Matter replied. "She is strong already. I recommend that you fight her in her training," "I'll need her permission to do that," Metal responded. "I can't just fight her to the death," "Not necessarily to the death," Techno-Matter corrected. "She'll still get hurt," Metal added. "Callie must know about pain," Techno-Matter explained. "She can't live a whole life without pain. It's out of possibility. She has to get used to it," "Only if she agrees," Metal repeated. "If she does agree, then I will fight her for her training."

_The Next Day…_

Like Callie had told him to, Steel was acting like nothing had happened the day before. Just then as he was walking through the large, dull metal corridor, the intercom in that area only tuned in on him. "Steel, you are needed in my Upgrade Room for an upgrade," Eggman said through it, then switching it off. "And upgrade?" Steel asked himself quietly. He then shrugged. "Maybe the past is the past after all." So without much fear Steel made his way to the Upgrade Room.

Arriving, Steel came face-to-face with Eggman. "Steel, just lie over there," Eggman ordered. Steel had lied on the upgrade table before. That was a long time ago when Eggman was trying to edit out his disobedient programming and cowardice, but it didn't work. But maybe today was different. Maybe he was getting new outer-armour? It was time for him to find out. However, it didn't take long to find out what it was. His guess was right from yesterday – Eggman was going to deactivate him.

**-With Callie-**

'_I hope Steel's okay…' _Callie thought. She then saw Metal Sonic and Metal Sniper walking up in her direction. "Metal, I've explained it ten times, I am not Klaus!" Sniper repeated. "EMMI saw you get robotocized, and after being robotocized, you are never yourself," Metal corrected. "No, I am Klaus' robot copy, Klaus himself died in the process, was resurrected, and now he has escaped," Sniper explained. "Like you actually know that!" Metal replied. "Um, I was there," Sniper responded. "I was just getting my final touches added, like the weapons, chest-plate and belt. Oh, and I was getting my AI Chip fitted in," "Alright, I believe you!" Metal surrendered. "Oh, hey, Callie," Metal waved, after getting close to her. "Hey, she's the girl who showed me around!" Sniper recognised. "I know," Metal said, rolling his eyes.

"You two need to learn to get along," Callie chuckled. "Look at you two; you're like two brothers fighting over something so silly!" "Well, we technically are brothers," Sniper corrected. "I have the same Custom AI ROBOTNIK Chip and original parts as Metal does," "Speaking of brothers and friends, where's Steel Sonic?" Metal asked. "Haven't seen him today," Callie replied. "Strange," Metal muttered. "I'm off to go and find him."

Metal searched for a time, until he stumbled through a door and fell flat on his face. "Gurgh! Stupid step!" he cursed. He then got up and looked forwards, his irises going green. "Steel!" he yelled. He saw his friend lifeless, held up by large clamps, being taken apart by electric drills (like Beta was in Sonic Adventure). Metal stared in horror. How come nobody had told him about this? Now he was ticked off real bad, so he marched right out of the room with now-bright red irises. "Just you wait until you get a load of my artificial mind, Eggman!" he snarled to nobody in particular. "You'll soon see your precious overlord in the air soon enough – but it would be ME!"


	5. I am the ultimate overlord, Metal Sonic!

**You all obviously know what's going to happen in this chapter. Why? Because you're Sonic Heroes!**

Callie was looking for Metal everywhere. Though the base was huge, it shouldn't take this long to find Metal. At the same time as searching for Metal she was also searching for Steel. There was no sign of either of these two robots. It wasn't until she was passing her father's office…

"Stop! What are you doing?" Eggman yelled.

Callie couldn't see what was going on, but she could see a shadow on the wall of her father back away in fear, and another familiar shadow approaching him. It could have been Metal Sniper, but his top spike was longer. The same goes for Mecha Klaus. It could have been Steel Sonic. He was the one most likely to be attacking Eggman. The figure then raised a fist and punched Eggman hard in the face. Callie gasped. As the figure began walking, dragging Eggman with him, the shadow got smaller. This obviously meant that he was coming closer to the door. Quickly, Callie backed herself against the wall beside the door. Out came Metal Sonic dragging an unconscious Eggman behind him. Thankfully he went in the other direction, so didn't see Callie.

As Metal headed down the corridor, Callie stared in horror. "Why did he just do that?" she whispered to herself. She then ran in the opposite direction to Metal, in search for Metal Sniper. Or Techno-Matter.

Anyone who could help her.

Callie reached the cell room, finding all cells empty. She tried every cell room, finding no robot that could help her out. Callie sighed hopelessly. "Must I have to try and stop Metal from attacking his base-mates by myself?" she asked herself. "…Looks like I'm going to have to. Well, here goes nothing…"

**-With Metal-**

Metal was in the Upgrade Room. Unlike most robots, he was upgrading himself alone. "He'll pay for what he has done…" he growled. "He'll pay for deactivating and dismantling Steel!" Metal spent a long time soldering new pieces of navy-dyed steel onto himself. He then made a spiked belt, attaching a long black cape inside it so that the cape dropped down and would blow evilly in the breeze. He painted white stripes on his five long quills. He then shaped his shoes to make them look more elf-like. Finally, he uploaded all of the data he needed for becoming Metal Overlord. After completing himself, Metal left the room.

Walking through various hallways to try and find the take-off room (the room where the latest Egg Fleet was waiting to take to the skies), Metal bumped into Callie. Callie turned suddenly, gasping and backing away quick. "Who are you?" she asked. "Cal, it's me – Metal Sonic!" Metal answered. Callie froze. "…Metal?" she asked. She then backed away slowly, shaking her head unhurriedly. "Why?" she asked. "Eggman will pay for what he did, Callie!" Metal exclaimed. "What did he do?" Callie asked. "He destroyed Steel!" Metal yelled. Callie gasped, covering her mouth with one hand. "No…" she sobbed, trying to hold back tears. "I promised him that he would be safe!"

"Now you understand," Metal said. "Why don't you take revenge with me?" "What do you mean?" Callie questioned. "We are taking over this planet, and we're turning it into a robot kingdom!" Metal answered. "I'm sorry, Metal, but I can't let you do that," Callie apologized. "I still love my father dearly, plus I am a flesh being myself," "You can be the last one," Metal explained. "No, I am not letting you do it," Callie finalized. "You will kill off the entire planet! There are many innocent out there and many young!" "Steel was innocent! And did Eggman show him ANY mercy?" Metal asked, angered. "You will never understand. Not when you're like this," Callie announced, turning around and beginning to walk away. Metal attempted a growl. "You'll see, Callie! You'll see everything!" he bellowed. Callie stopped, turning her head to look at him. "All I will see is a nightmare coming to reality," she corrected, continuing to run and not looking back. Metal went his way angrily, boarding the Egg Fleet.

Boarding the main ship, Metal locked Eggman away in a cell. He then got the vessel flying in the air, leaving it as he went down to capture Froggy and Chocola. But, without him realising it, Callie had snuck on board the ship. "This thing is huge," she gasped, when walking around it as if it was a cave of diamonds in the walls. "Well, I'd better find Eggman before Metal decides to kill him."

Callie probably spent hours searching around the fleet, until finally finding Eggman's cell. "Eggman!" she yelled, as she never called him her father often. "Callie?" Eggman asked. "Is that you?" "Yes, it's me," Callie answered. "Do you know how to get me out of here, Callie?" Eggman asked. "I wish I could say yes…" Callie sighed. "But I will get you out! I just need to stop Metal first!" "No, Callie, he's too dangerous!" Eggman warned, as Callie had already begun running away.

**-With Metal-**

"I'll show you what REAL evil is!" Metal, in an Eggman disguise, exclaimed. He was in his Egg Emperor, prepared to attack Team Sonic. He didn't even realise that Team Chaotix were trying to find their mystery client's cell. AKA, Doctor Eggman's cell. "Take this!" Metal yelled, firing attacks as he slashed his sword. "CHARGE!" Metal charged right into the team of heroes, making all of them lose their rings. "Ha ha HAAAA!" Metal chortled.

_One Hour Later…_

After the Chaotix had found Eggman, they questioned him of who locked him in the cell. "Then who was it?" Vector asked. "Who locked you up here for trying to conquer the world?" Eggman raised his hand, and then dropped it down and looked down at the same time. "It was…" he began. "Neo Metal Sonic…"

**-With Team Sonic-**

The team were running across the fleet. Another two teams followed them, along with the Team Chaotix and Eggman turning up late. On the top of an Eggman tower stood a shadowed figure, not looking familiar to any of the team. It began laughing smugly. "All living things kneel before your master!" he yelled. He then shot a lightning bolt into the sky, it then landing back down. The bolt blew up the tower. For three seconds everyone was confused, before a blue band of light then began swirling where the tower once stood. The debris of the destroyed tower then began joining together. It began forming the shape of a dragon-like body, and the mystery robot twirled around once, fusing himself with the body, forming a large dragon-like creature. He then roared menacingly.

"Metal Sonic has finally transformed!" Eggman yelled. "THAT'S Metal Sonic?" Sonic asked, baffled and shocked. All of Eggman's Egg Pawns ran in fear as Metal roared again. _'Wait... He looks familiar in that form…' _Eggman thought.

**-With Callie-**

Callie had heard the roars, and was frightened. First her father goes missing from his cell, then she turns out to be alone and lost aboard her own father's creation piloted by her best friend. However, she managed to follow the roar. She then saw a large blue creature battling a black hedgehog, a bat and a robot which looked like one of Eggman's. She could also see Eggman in the background of the fight. "New target acquired! Sights locked on… Metal Sonic!" the robot yelled who was with the team. Callie gasped. "Metal?"

Running closer to the situation, Callie hid behind a large metal block, observing the scene. "Even the Ultimate Life Form can't stop me!" Metal yelled. "Wait… that hedgehog looks familiar…" Callie recognised. She then remembered the pictures of Maria she looked at when she was five years old. "Shadow!" she gasped. "That's the hedgehog Maria told me about!" Callie then remembered that she was supposed to be trying to stop Metal. "Metal, end this madness at once!" she yelled. Only Metal heard this. _'Metal Madness…' _he thought. _'That is my name in this stage!'_

Metal continued to fight the team, until he was defeated at his Metal Madness stage. He then turned his unused arm-looking parts and converted them into wings. Next he took off to the skies. Meanwhile, three unfamiliar figures took off, one yellow, the other two only shielded. But Callie, thinking about it, recognised the yellow one. Despite recognising him, she was unable to identify him and turned her attention back to Shadow. She was too far to get to him, and if she tried, she would certainly fall to her death. Well, not to her _death, _but it would be a long way back up. But for the time being, she sat down behind the metal block, leaned against it and put her head in her hands, crying. She cried because she knew her friend was going to die, though her friend was no longer her friend. He was now insane, and if she tried to make him remember her, he would attack her. Callie was also mourning for her other friend, who she had failed to protect. She gave her word that she would make sure he would remain in activation, but he was deactivated. Callie felt like she had no more hope, and nothing else to lose.

After a while, Callie heard Metal's unmistakeable voice desperately yelling. She turned her head only to see him falling. "Gurgh! Why? I had it all!" Metal yelled, in this stage known as Metal Overlord. "I am the ultimate overlord, Metal Sonic! I am the real Sonic!" Callie gasped as she watched him fall, her eyes red and shrunk due to the tears. She continued to cry, until she decided to wipe the tears away. "There's still hope…" she sobbed, getting to her feet. She ran to where Metal landed, hiding behind another metal block, looking a little different to the other, in a way. All teams ran up to the fallen Neo Metal Sonic, who changed back into the original Metal Sonic.

"It's no use… but why can't I defeat you?" Metal asked, looking down sadly; away from the others. Sonic stepped forwards. "Because… we're Sonic Heroes!" he answered, waving his finger. "Sonic!" he heard Amy yell. "If you ever want a rematch, just let me know," Sonic told Metal. "I'll be waiting." After running off, Sonic was followed by Tails and Amy. As Tails passed, Metal passed out cold. Eggman was running away from the scene. Callie saw this from where she was standing, horrified. "Father… why?" she asked. She then saw the robot lift up Metal in his arms, looking at Shadow. Shadow met his gaze.

"Must destroy all Eggman's robots!" the robot, known as E-123 Omega by name, recalled. "WAIT!" Callie yelled. Shadow and Omega were confused. They saw Callie running towards them. "Please, don't hurt Metal!" she begged. "Just who are you?" Shadow asked. "My name is Callie," Callie answered. "Callie Robotnik," "Robotnik?" Shadow asked, confused. "Yes," Callie responded. "Shadow, you should understand my concerns for Metal! You once knew a girl, didn't you?" Shadow said nothing. "…Maria? Don't you remember her?" Callie asked, tilting her head slightly. "Maria…" Shadow repeated, looking into the corner of his eye. He remembered the 'gruesome image' of a blonde girl being shot. "…Who is she?" he asked. "She told me to tell you that she was okay," Callie said. "But you must understand that Metal is my friend, and I can't let anymore friends down," "What do you mean?" Shadow asked, looking at her. Callie sighed. "His best friend has recently been deactivated," he began. "He was one of my close friends, too. His deactivation led Metal to do this."

"Wait… so you're saying that this robot is your friend?" Shadow reiterated. Callie nodded. "He had to share his powers with me to save me from death," she described. "So I have the same abilities as he possesses," "I understand your connection with Metal Sonic," Omega understood, placing Metal into Callie's arms. "You are bonded with Metal for eternity. Nothing can separate this bond," "So we're like one person?" Callie asked. "Affirmative," Omega answered. "But he is the one who must protect you." Callie was slightly surprised. "I never saw the story that way…" she muttered. "Well, I had better get back before my father worries for me," "You mean Ivo Robotnik, correct?" Omega corrected. "Yes, I do," Callie answered. "Please, don't tell Sonic about me… will you?" "Why not?" Shadow asked. "I was supposed to stay a secret from everyone," Callie answered. "But this time, I just had to reveal myself. And remember, Shadow, Maria is okay. Goodbye, you two." With that speech, Callie left, carrying the unconscious Metal in her arms.

**-Eggman's Ground Base-**

Callie arrived back at the base, placing Metal in his recharge chamber. He took a wrong turn to avenge his friend, that's all. And this time she had to make sure that Metal would stay in activation. "I promise you, Metal, you're going to be fine," she assured, touching the glass of the chamber. As Callie looked down, sighing, Metal's hand almost touched hers from the other side of the glass. Callie slowly looked up. Metal was awake, and he was looking rather sad. "Don't worry, Metal," Callie began. "I'll definitely make sure that you won't get deactivated." Metal said nothing in response, and he shut back down to recharge. Callie was a little sad for her friend. She had already let down one of her friends, and she couldn't let down another. After a few minutes, she left the room.

**-With Doctor Eggman-**

Eggman was enraged by what his Greatest Creation had done. He was betrayed, which could only mean that Metal had to be disposed of at once. "But without him, Callie will feel that she has no place on the planet," Eggman remembered. "…She has to learn. Metal cannot get away with that. He may even still be insane, maybe also trying to attack everyone again. Metal has to go."

_Three Hours Later…_

Metal was locked away deep down in the base. He was in a dark room, with electric barriers to guard the way out. He was sad and angry. He was sad for failing, sad for his old friend, and sad for his closest friend. He was angry because he had let his old friend down, that he was going to be deactivated and that he was now locked away. In his mind he was planning revenge. Metal wasn't chained up or anything, he was just sitting in the middle of the floor, knees in arms.

Outside of the room, Callie was with her father. "Callie, he is too dangerous. Look at the damage he has caused," Eggman told Callie. "Please, just let me speak with him," Callie requested. Eggman sighed. "Very well then…" he surrendered, disabling the barriers. "Just be careful." Callie slowly approached Metal, cautious. Metal knew that she was there. "You don't need to say anything, Callie," he said, not turning around. Callie stopped walking.

"What do you mean?" Callie asked. "I have done too much damage, and I may still be malfunctioning," Metal explained. "There are high chances that I may hurt you," "Don't say that," Callie gently commanded, coming beside Metal and sitting down. "The more you think it, the more chances that you are going to do it." Metal looked at her. "My end is near, isn't it?" he asked. "It might not be," Callie replied. "You just have to prove to Eggman that you are still you," "He would still deactivate me…" Metal attempted to sigh. "Well, I'll back you up," Callie added. Again, Metal looked at her. "Besides, it wasn't even your fault. It was his fault for angering you." Metal noted this in his head. "You have to trust me, Metal; you're going to be fine."

Eggman was watching outside the room, and showed sympathy for them both. _'Callie does have a point…' _he thought. _'If I hadn't deactivated Steel, he wouldn't have done that. Maybe I'll give him another chance.' _Eggman entered, seeing that the two were both now looking at him. "Metal, this is only because I'm being generous, but I'm giving you another chance," he informed. Metal didn't know what to reply. "…Thank you," he eventually said. "Now the two of you may leave this room." The two friends then left the room together, Eggman smiling a little.


	6. My Gears are Fine!

**So in the previous chapter we saw the most over-exaggerate friend vengeance, which was of course, Sonic Heroes! Let's see how things continued…**

Metal had now began to wonder how EMMI was doing. Her missions usually did take a long time, but he was worried for her. This was the first time he was very worried for EMMI. The only person he was usually worried for was Callie, which was normal. Techno-Matter was the one to worry about EMMI the most mainly. Well, it was time for Metal to stop worrying – EMMI was going to be fine.

"Hey, Metal, there's something I need to tell you…" Callie began. "What?" Metal asked. "I know about Maria…" Callie revealed. "…How is that possible? Who told you?" Metal questioned. "Maria told me," Callie answered. "…That must be a different Maria," Metal pointed out. "It was her, Metal," Callie confirmed. "Her ghost, in fact. She told me that she was shot aboard the ARK." Metal was silent. "Is that all?" he eventually asked. "Pretty much," Callie responded. "Apart from telling me to tell Shadow that she was alright," "You spoke to Shadow?" Metal asked, surprised. "I had to in order to save you," Callie replied. "Omega was going to destroy you," "That traitor…" Metal growled. "What, did he used to be one of ours?" Callie asked. "…Sort of," Metal replied. "Eggman discarded him," "Oh…" Callie nodded. "The enemies seem nice, why aren't we on their side?" "Eggman's orders," Metal responded. "Let's move off the subject." Callie nodded in agreement.

The two carried on walking. Callie then remembered something. "Metal, I've just remembered that I've got something to show you!" "What?" Metal asked. "Follow me!" Callie ran, and Metal followed. "Where are we going?" Metal questioned. "To the Inventions Room!" Callie answered. "Why?" asked Metal. "I made something that could come in good use in the future," Callie replied. "For what?" Metal interrogated. Callie laughed a little as she continued to run. "For fun and racing," she answered. "Maybe even serious matters. A-ha! We're here!"

Callie went over to the corner of scrap and junk, until picking out what looked like a skateboard without wheels. "What is that?" Metal asked. "Extreme Gear," Callie answered. "I made it myself," "How does it work?" questioned Metal. "I'll show you," Callie replied, climbing onto the board. It hovered, and Callie managed to fly around with it. She flew through an unrepaired hole in the ceiling, followed by Metal. "Woohooooo!" she exclaimed with excitement. Metal flew beside her. Callie looked at him and smiled. She then landed down on the floor, jumping off the board. "Alright, now it's your turn," she informed.

Metal took time to get on the board, almost falling off. He managed to steady himself, and then began flying around high. "Woo! Go Metal!" Callie cheered. Metal did a few tricks, and then landed back down to ground in front of Callie. "You're a natural, Mets!" Callie praised. "That explains why you are," Metal responded. "What are you planning on doing with this?" "I've got loads," Callie replied. "You keep that one," "Thanks, Cal," thanked Metal, holding the board under his arm. "Hey, guys!" a familiar female voice said happily. The two turned around. "EMMI, you're back!" Callie smiled. EMMI smiled back.

"I see you've been having fun. What's that?" EMMI asked. "Extreme Gear," both Callie and Metal answered at the same time. "What's Extreme Gear?" questioned EMMI. "A make of hoverboard," Callie answered. "It goes pretty fast," "How many do you have?" EMMI asked. "Quite a few," Callie replied. "I thought they might come in handy when we're bored," "You are just like your father," EMMI giggled. "Crossed with me," Metal added. "So, what do you have next, EMMI?" "Another mission in the future," EMMI answered. "But I need to be turned into an actual hedgehog," "WHAT?" Metal and Callie exclaimed. "Hey, it isn't that bad!" EMMI continued. "Why are you being turned into a hedgehog?" Metal asked. "You're already like a living thing," "Do living things see in pink and have a complete metal body?" EMMI questioned. "…Point taken," Metal surrendered. "But I warn you, blood will be everywhere," "Thank you for making me feel more confident," EMMI sarcastically thanked.

**Metal's Digital Log**

I have not updated in a while, but things have been going on. Yes, my best friend Steel Sonic was deactivated. This caused me to lose control and try to take over the world and turn it into a robot kingdom. I owe Callie two times – she saved me from Omega and my creator. EMMI is going on a mission as a real hedgehog, and also Callie has invented a hoverboard known as Extreme Gear. She's made quite a lot of them. I'm surprised I didn't know.

**-Metal**

_The Next Day…_

"Well, guys, say goodbye to Eggman's Mechanical Manufactured Intelligence," EMMI waved, heading into the Robotocizer Room, where she could also be derobotocized. "Could luck on the mission," Callie wished. Metal just stood with his arms folded, until Callie nudged him. He knew that that meant he was supposed to speak. "…Good luck," he said. EMMI smiled. "You are hopeless," she giggled, walking in the room; the doors closing behind her.

It took about over half a minute for EMMI to come back out. "Whoa," Callie praised. EMMI was not similar looking to Sonic, with indigo ears, tanned muzzle, arms, tummy and inside ears, light blue eyes, light blue shoes, maroon on the rolled down part of her socks and gloves and violet coloured on the rest of her. "You look different!" "I know," EMMI answered, who we will now refer to as Emmi.

"Look, guys, I'd love to stay and try my new body out, but I have to do my mission now," Emmi said. "I'll be back before you know it." Emmi then went back inside the room and jumped through a portal. The doors then closed. "She's one awesome member of the base, don't you think?" Callie asked. Metal nodded once. "Agreed," he agreed. Metal then turned around. "Let's go and find Sniper, he's a good friend."

Both of the two were walking as if nothing was going to happen, until that's when they heard what was never usually heard. "Destroy the robots and arrest the doctor!" an unfamiliar voice yelled, distant. Callie gasped. "What about his daughter?" another voice asked. Metal grabbed Callie's forearm and flew as fast as he could. "Metal, what's going on?" Callie asked over his booster. "We need to find the doctor – the base has been infiltrated!" Metal answered, flying to try and find Doctor Eggman.

Metal flew, and then stopped to hide Callie. "Stay here," he commanded, hiding Callie in a metal wardrobe. "If anything happens, just fight your way out. Understand?" "I understand," Callie responded. Metal shut the door and headed out of the room. He ran and then flew in search for his creator. He would be quick – he would get his creator to safety and then go back for Callie. Metal found Eggman in his main office. "Master, the base has been reached!" Metal warned. Eggman turned around in his chair and stood up instantly. "Get all robots and Callie to the escape pods!" he ordered. "Yes, master," Metal replied, saluting. He then had to guide Eggman to safety and get him to the Launch Room. Once there, Eggman launched himself to the Death Egg's coordinates, last saying to Metal: "Get the other robots and Callie to the Death Egg's location."

The titanium blue made his way back to where he left Callie, and found that she was still there. "Come on, Callie, we need to get out of the base!" he explained, flying with her running beside him. "Is Eggman safe?" Callie asked. "Yes," Metal answered. "Everyone is to escape to the Death Egg," "Metal, we have to help the other robots!" Callie realised. "That is what we are going do," Metal responded. "We'll need to split up, Metal," Callie said. "I can't leave you, Callie," Metal replied. "Don't worry, I'll be fine," Callie assured. "Besides, it's not me who is in more danger – it's you," "Just be careful," Metal wished. "Look, I'll find the robots while you get Emmi," Callie commanded. "That way you'll be safe." Metal nodded in agreement. Callie smiled at him, and then ran to find the other robots while Metal went to find Emmi in the future.

**-The Future-**

Metal saw Emmi spying on Silver, quickly flying up to her. "Emmi, you must return at once!" he ordered. "Why?" Emmi asked. "The base is being attacked, and we all have to get to the Death Egg," Metal explained. "Who is invading it?" Emmi questioned. "G.U.N are invading," Metal answered. "Now get back and find the Launch Room while I help Callie find the others." Emmi and Metal returned, once again Emmi not doing her job properly.

**-Eggman's Ground Base-**

Callie had already saved all of the robots, and was now saving Metal Sniper. She was riding on the Extreme Gear which she gave Metal, Sniper running beside her. "Use your booster, Sniper!" Callie suggested. "I'm too nervous!" Sniper replied. Callie sighed and picked up Sniper, holding him as she zoomed to the Launch Room. The two then saw Metal with Emmi entering the room. "Good to see you," Callie smiled. "Now let's get out of here!" Metal, Emmi, Callie and Sniper managed to squeeze inside a pod together, Metal the one who had the honour of launching it.

With the soldiers, they were all rather angry. "Every robot has escaped?" the commander asked through a transceiver angrily. "It was because of that girl, Callie!" the soldier holding the transceiver replied. "She and the robot Metal Sonic helped the doctor and robots to escape!" "It is no doubt that they are aboard another Death Egg," the commander theorized. "Once we find his hideout, we must not let anything get out!" "What about Callie?" asked the soldier speaking to the commander. "If she is truly as dangerous as she is supposed to be, then you have no choice but to shoot her," the commander answered.

**-The Death Egg-**

Eggman was relieved to see his daughter safely boarding the large space station. "This time our location is unknown," he informed. "But what if we're found again?" Callie asked. Eggman sighed. "I guess then we'll have to give ourselves up," he admitted. "But before we intend on doing that, we might as well fight them off. Now you four go and do something, like playing on that hoverboard," "It's Extreme Gear," Callie corrected, smiling. "Who made it?" Eggman asked. "I did," Callie answered. "I made quite a few. This one's Metal's," "Impressive," Eggman reacted.

The four friends left the room. "Should we play outside?" Sniper suggested. "I don't see why not," Callie replied. "Let's use the Extreme Gear!" So the friends left the space station and found themselves in space itself. "Wow…" Callie gasped. "I'm actually in space!" Emmi remained inside the Death Egg. Metal and Callie had both forgotten that even when Emmi was a robot she still had to breathe.

"Hey, guys, look at me!" Sniper exclaimed joyfully, flying around and twirling, also doing loops. Callie chuckled like a girl. She flew around on the Extreme Gear. "Check me out!" she laughed. Because she was laughing with her eyes closed as she flew, it took her time to notice where she was heading. There in front of her was the Space Colony ARK.

Callie looked back at her two friends, noticing that they were focusing on each other. Like her usual curious self, Callie went inside the ARK and decided to look around the dark rooms. She walked around carrying the Extreme Gear under her arm, seeing the ARK's creepy emptiness. "So it's been 50 years…?" she asked herself in awe. As she walked through the large rooms, at times going around in circles, she found a dead body by a control panel. Callie gasped.


	7. Lost Colony

**It looks like Callie has found a dead body by a control panel! Who could it be?**

Callie went pale when she saw the body, too shocked to scream. Hesitating, she approached the body. She couldn't see it well due to the darkness, until she began making out a blue dress. _'This can't be Maria…' _she thought. _'We have her dress!' _Callie continued to approach the body, scared. It _was_ Maria. Callie gasped again. "How can Maria be here still?" she asked. After asking that, Maria faded. Callie cocked her head to the side. It wasn't long before she saw the ghost of Maria talking, presumably to Shadow. A ghost of a soldier then ran through Callie and shot Maria. Callie, again, gasped. Maria's body lay there for a while, until fading. Callie decided to leave that room.

As she left, Callie shivered. She felt cold, and was still pale. There were many things that Callie could put up with, but seeing ghosts wasn't one of them, despite the fact that she casually spoke to Maria's ghost previously. Callie then went on the Extreme Gear and glided around the darkness. As she glided, she felt a tear roll down the side of her left cheek. She felt it, confused. Obviously Callie felt sorry for Maria. But then she realised something – the ghost-soldier which shot Maria looked just like the soldiers invading her old home. Now she had figured it out – the soldiers must have killed all Robotnik girls who had something unique about them.

**-Outside the Death Egg-**

Metal noticed that Callie was gone. He looked around in a little bit of a panic. "Where's Callie?" he asked Sniper. "Maybe she went back in the Death Egg?" Sniper guessed. Metal flew down and asked Emmi. "Did Callie come in?" he asked. "No," Emmi answered. "Maybe she went through a different door?" Sniper suggested, shrugging. "I saw her heading towards the ARK," Emmi remembered. Metal's eyes widened. "Let's go, Sniper," he said, flying quickly.

Reaching the ARK, Metal and Sniper both found a way in. They both switched on their night-vision, scanning and searching for Callie. "Callie!" Sniper called. "Are you in here?"

**-With Callie-**

Callie heard the sound of Sniper's voice, and tried heading towards it. She then heard Metal's voice, and gasped, smiling. She moved quickly on the Extreme Gear, until getting lost. "Callie, are you in here?" she heard Metal yelling from far away. "I'm here!" Callie yelled in reply. "We're coming to get you, Callie! Remain where you are!" Metal commanded. Callie did as she was told and stayed still.

Waiting, the room suddenly felt cold. Callie began to shiver, rubbing her arms to keep warm as she chattered her teeth. She then began breathing mist, and Goosebumps began showing up. "Why is it suddenly cold?" she asked herself, chattering her teeth at the same time. Callie fell to her knees, continuing to shiver. She tried to keep her head up, but was just looking down. Suddenly, she saw glowing transparent feet in front of her. She slowly looked up and saw Maria looking down at her.

"I told Shadow that you remembered him! Why are you doing this?" Callie asked, shivering. "I don't mean to," Maria answered. "I haunt here. I don't deliberately make it cold," "Well, I'm probably going to die because it's that cold!" Callie responded. Maria shook her head. "You can't die in the cold," she informed. "Or the heat. But I am warning you now. Soon GUN will try and destroy Metal Sonic as they did try with Shadow." Maria then held out her hand for Callie to take hold of. Callie took hold of it, and saw that she was transparent and had left her body. She gasped. "You killed me!" she accused. "No, you are merely in a trance and unconscious," Maria replied. "Allow me to show you some future and past events."

Maria warped through time and aboard the ARK 50 years ago. "This is how everything happened that day," she began, pointing at herself running alongside Shadow. Callie watched with her, until seeing the soldier pointing his gun at Maria. Callie tried to look away, but knew that she had to see the truth. She was horrified when she saw Maria getting shot, using the last of her strength to eject Shadow's escape pod. "Maria!" Shadow yelled as he was ejected from the ARK.

"That's how I was killed," Maria said sadly. "But… you didn't do anything wrong," Callie replied. Maria looked down. "Helping Shadow escape was what I did wrong," she admitted. "They were trying everything they could to kill him, and if it wasn't for my life-risk, he would have been killed." Callie remained silent. Maria took hold of Callie's hand once again. "Your friend Metal Sonic had many futures," she explained. "Of what?" Callie asked. "Death," Maria answered. Callie gasped. "But… how is it possible for him to have so many futures of death?" she questioned. "Because it depends on what happens throughout time," responded Maria. "I'll show you his futures, but one of them must happen." Maria then warped she and Callie somewhere else. Space.

Callie saw Metal fighting against a red hedgehog with yellow eyes. "Who's that?" she asked. "His name is Perfect Nazo," answered Maria. Callie had never heard of Perfect Nazo, but continued to watch nervously as Metal battled him. Metal destroyed his foe, and everything brightened. Seconds after, Metal was seen falling, his eyes still 'open'. "Callie…" he said faintly as he fell, his eyes switching off. Callie could see that Metal was deactivated. All she felt now was horror. "Come on, cousin," Maria started. "Allow me to show you another time," "I'm not sure I want to…" Callie admitted. Maria ignored her younger cousin's response, and warped somewhere else.

The new surrounding was familiar. "Hey… this is the Death Egg!" Callie recognised. "We've just moved here!" Maria then pointed at two figures running by. Callie looked. "That's… That's me and Metal!" she gasped. Maria knew what was coming already, yet Callie daren't look. She knew that Metal was going to die here.

**-The ARK-**

"Callie!" Metal yelled. "Shout if you can hear me!" There was no reply. "Why isn't she answering?" Sniper asked. "…I don't know," Metal replied. "But we must find her." Sniper nodded in agreement. Metal used his booster to fly while Sniper trailed behind on foot. "Why don't you use your booster?" Metal asked. "I can't," Sniper answered. "It's hard." Metal didn't understand Sniper at times, but continued to fly. They then found Callie lying down on the floor. "Metal, there she is!" Sniper pointed. Metal flew over to her, followed by Sniper.

Metal gently nudged Callie over onto her back. "She's passed out due to the temperature," he revealed. "What temperature is it?" Sniper asked. "Minus one hundred and fifty degrees," answered Metal. "That would be enough to kill a regular human being, unlike her," "So she's going to live?" Sniper questioned. "No," Metal replied. Sniper was confused. "She will die if she doesn't get warmth in the next half hour," "Then we need to get her warm!" Sniper commanded. Metal nodded, lifting Callie up and carrying her back to the Death Egg.

**-With Maria and Callie-**

Callie watched as Metal ran with what must have been an older version of herself, followed by familiar soldiers. "Shoot the robot!" one ordered. Another soldier shot Metal's engine, the bullet getting jammed inside; causing Metal to explode. "METAL!" Callie cried. The scene then faded.

"I don't want to see any more of his deaths," Callie said. "Please… it's just too upsetting… it makes me feel guilty!" "As you wish," Maria replied. "But you also need to be careful. After all, you may also have a near death," Don't tell me that," Callie pleaded. "Can you help me get back?" "Very well," Maria sighed. "Just, be careful. Cousin…" Maria then touched Callie's shoulder.

**~Consciousness~**

Callie awakened suddenly, gasping as she did. "You're awake," Metal reacted. Callie sat up. "Where am I?" she asked. "You're back aboard the Death Egg," answered Metal. "You were unconscious aboard the ARK." Callie looked away in thought. "I know," she then said, still thinking.

**Metal's Digital Log**

It was -150 degrees aboard the ARK. I don't understand why – the rest of the Ark was over 30 degrees for sure. Because of the cold temperature Callie had fallen unconscious and would have died within 30 minutes. But now she's okay.

**-Metal**

_3 years later…_

Callie was trying to hit Metal hard. Metal avoided the attack. Callie then attempted to kick him. Metal grabbed her foot and flipped her over. Callie sprung back to her feet and swung her leg to the side of Metal's, making him lose balance. Metal fell down in a sitting position, then getting back up. He charged up his fist and punched Callie right in the face, giving her a nosebleed. Callie ignored the blood and kicked Metal in the chest, sending him crashing into a wall, the metal wall then getting a large dent inside it. Callie laughed a little and smiled. "Game over," she chuckled as she walked over to him. Metal fell to his feet and straightened himself, twisting his arm around to screw it back in place. "Alright, you win," he agreed. "You're training is definitely improving." Callie smiled.

Emmi and Techno-Matter entered the room. "And it looks like Callie wins – again. You need to roughen up, Mets," Emmi announced. "I'm an old robot, what do you expect?" Metal asked. "Your only about two or three years old than Callie," Emmi corrected. "That's old for a robot, you know!" Metal responded. "Incorrect," Techno-Matter replied. Metal tried to sigh. "Okay… wait, if I try my hardest, I'd just tear off Callie's head!" "You almost did last week," Callie corrected. They all then began laughing. Callie, to cheer Metal up, gave Metal a hug.


	8. I'm Mephiles, Mephiles the Dark

**And Callie is now 12 years old! What will happen in this age? Find out!**

Metal remained embarrassed that he had just been beaten by a girl. Yet again, she did have pretty much all of his abilities. Right now he, Callie, Sniper and Techno-Matter were waving Emmi off as she was now off on her mission to battle Silver the Hedgehog, who was now in the current time. "Well, guys, if I come back with various broken limbs, it's probably because Shadow decided to join the fight," Emmi said. "Don't offend Shadow," Callie replied. "Why not?" Emmi asked, shrugging. "He's the enemy," "I'm telling you, don't," Callie repeated. "Alright, Cal, no need to get serious," Emmi responded. "I'll see you later." With that sentence, Emmi jumped through the portal.

**-G.U.N Fortress-**

"Three years of being unable to find the Death Egg…" Tower complained. "Is it usually this well hidden?" "Sir, may I suggest something?" one soldier requested. "If you must," Tower sighed. "Why don't we wait for the doctor to send one of his robots down to attack, capture it, put a tracking device inside it and then follow it back to the Death Egg?" the soldier suggested. Tower thought about this. "That's a good one, soldier," he admitted. "Let the troops know that if any of the doctor's robots come by then they should not destroy it, but take it down," "Yes, sir," the soldier saluted.

**-The Death Egg-**

It was the day of the month on which robots had to be polished. It was Metal's turn, Sniper the one being after him. In the past Steel Sonic would have been after, but Sniper had took his place. Callie, as she wasn't a robot, was watching a film. She was watching _'Star Wars: Episode IV'. _"Hey… why do I feel as if I've seen the Death Star before…?" she asked herself. "…Oh." Callie realised that the Death Egg was originally based off the Death Star.

After watching the film, Callie decided to go up to her room and get the fifth episode. But when she got to her room, something felt different. As if she felt… a dark presence. For the first second of realising this she guessed Maria, but Maria's presence never felt dark. "It's hard to think about, isn't it?" a voice asked, deep and slightly creepy. Callie suddenly turned around, seeing a dark hedgehog which looked familiar. "Shadow?" she asked. The hedgehog chuckled. "I'm afraid not, my dear," he replied. "W-W-Who are you?" asked Callie. "My name is Mephiles," the hedgehog answered. "Mephiles the Dark," "You got the dark part right," Callie mumbled. Mephiles began walking towards Callie. Callie didn't show any fear.

"Aren't you afraid of me?" Mephiles asked. "Not really…" answered Callie. "But there is something you're afraid of," Mephiles spotted. "I can see it in your eyes," "Shut up!" Callie hissed. Mephiles chuckled. "I already know what it is," he continued. "Your little robot friend, Metal Sonic, is going to be destroyed. How unfortunate," "Stop it! Just stop it!" Callie begged. Mephiles laughed mockingly. "It's not long from now," he sustained. "And there is nothing you can do to save him!" "I SAID SHUT UP!" Callie screamed, a black aura surrounding her, her eyes glowing bright white. She grabbed Mephiles and sent him flying through the metal walls, then flying after him.

Mephiles had already ended up in space after smashing through a lot of walls. Callie was charging right at him, until he used his power to quickly move out of the way. Callie shot her face in his direction angrily. "Do you even know who I am?" Mephiles asked. "Mephiles the Dark, like you said," Callie answered. "Wrong," Mephiles answered. "I'm not just Mephiles the Dark. I am an immortal hedgehog who was created from a failed experiment." Callie narrowed her eyes at him. "I was supposed to be an artificial life form like your _friend, _Shadow, until they realised that I was too dark. But because I was immortal, they were unable to kill me."

Callie was not bothered about Mephiles' backstory, continuing to try and attack him. Mephiles cloned himself. Doing this did not confuse Callie or hold her off, as the clones were weak and that she knew which one Mephiles was, anyway. "They might have been unable to kill you, but I promise you that I can!" Callie yelled, flying towards Mephiles.

**-With Emmi-**

Emmi was watching Silver from behind a tree. "I've got you now…" she muttered. As fast as a speedy hedgehog, she ran up to him and kicked him down. Silver glanced at her angrily, standing back up. He used his phsycokenesis to restrain Emmi, then throwing her into a tree. Emmi growled and darted towards him. Silver stuck his leg out to trip her up, then of course using his power to throw her far away.

"Enough playing around, Emmi!" Silver demanded, levitating down beside the prone Emmi. Emmi looked up at him. "I'm far from finished!" she snarled, pouncing at him.

**-Space-**

"Hold still, you coward!" Callie demanded. Mephiles kept avoiding each of Callie's attacks. "Cowards are angry over their friend's future, like you," Mephiles taunted. Callie got even more angry, then managing to grab Mephiles. She threw him across the emptiness of space, but he flew back. This time Mephiles was putting up a fight, firing Dark Energy at Callie.

**-With Metal-**

Metal had finished being polished, and was waiting for Sniper_. 'I wonder where Callie is…'_ he thought. It wasn't long after he thought that until Sniper was finished. "What do you think?" Sniper asked. "You look like a polished robot," Metal answered. "Well, obviously," Sniper responded. "Let's go and find Callie; she's probably watching another episode of Star Wars." Metal nodded, heading off to the TV Room with Sniper.

Arriving at the TV Room, they noticed that Callie wasn't there. "Um, where to look now?" asked Sniper. "Her room," Metal answered, flying up to her room. "Hey, wait for me!" Sniper yelled, following.

Now in Callie's room, the two were worried. "Okay, where is she?" Sniper questioned. He and Metal then noticed a hole in the wall, leading into outer space. They looked at each other, shocked. "Come on, brother! She has to be out there!" Sniper stated. Metal flew out.

**-Space-**

Mephiles was holding Callie firmly grasped in his hand by her neck. Callie struggled to break free from his grip. "You're pathetic, girl!" he teased. He then saw Metal and Sniper flying from the Death Egg. Redirecting his head to Callie, he spoke. "It looks like you're lucky," he said. "Your friend close to death is coming to save you." Mephiles threw Callie down onto the moon's surface, then teleporting away.

Callie sat up and rubbed her throat, then seeing Metal and Sniper land beside her. "What happened?" asked Metal. "I… I can't tell you," Callie replied. "Why not?" Metal questioned. "I just can't. It will worry you," Callie repeated. "Callie, you can tell me anything," Metal assured. A tear escaped from Callie's eye. Metal sat beside her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Callie, don't cry," he attempted to say softly. Callie looked at him. "You don't know what it is…" she sobbed in reply. "Then tell me," Metal repeated. "Two people told me that…" Callie began, pausing. "…That you were going to die…" Metal bleeped an annoyed sound.

"And you believed that they were telling you the truth?" Metal questioned. Callie nodded. "I know they were," she said. "Who were they?" asked Metal. "Maria's ghost was one of them…" Callie recapped. "And who was the other?" Metal rushed. "Some hedgehog who looked a little like Shadow called… Mephiles…" Callie answered. Sniper researched Mephiles on his eye computer. It took him a little bit of time to finally find out about him, and was most displeased. "Did he darken you?" he asked. "I don't think so…" Callie responded. "But he told me that you were going to be destroyed soon… He was traumatizing me!" "But where did he go?" Sniper asked. "And how did you get rid of him?" Callie let out a sigh. "Actually, because he saw you and Metal coming, he decided to let me live…" she announced. Metal looked at her, looking a little angry. "He was going to kill you?" he asked. Callie nodded. "He was killing me already by strangling me, but he let me live because he saw you coming." Metal was highly enraged. How dare anyone, alive or not, try to kill Callie.

"Wait… somebody just tried to kill you?" Sniper asked angrily. "I'll teach him to never mess with-" Metal grabbed his arm as he tried marching away. "No," he ordered. "You can't take Mephiles on alone. I'm still not certain that you can even kill him, group or no group." Sniper grunted childishly. Metal let go of his arm, turning his attention back to Callie. "Callie, I won't get killed. I may get severely damaged, but if that ever happens, all I need is a little bit of fixing. You need to understand that." Metal picked up his frightened friend, flying back to the Death Egg. Sniper followed him.

Meanwhile, Mephiles was watching as they flew back. "Little do you know, child…" he began. "That you will be the next one to meet an unpleasant demise!"

**-The Death Egg-**

Metal arrived with Callie, waiting for Sniper. Sniper always took longer because he never used his booster. Callie was still sad. Metal hugged her to comfort her. "Everything's going to be okay," he reassured. "I won't be destroyed," "You're not sure of that," Callie muffled. Metal gently cupped her chin and made her look at him. "Don't be upset, Callie. Even if I did go, you still would have other friends to help you out." Metal wiped the tear away from under Callie's eye with his cold metal claw. "Right now, Callie, you have nothing to worry about. I'm still here."

_Later…_

Metal was ordered to go and see Doctor Eggman. "What is it, sir?" he asked, standing straight. "It's been a while since I gave you a mission on Mobius," Eggman replied. "You're mission is to go down to that planet and destroy that rebel robot, E-123 Omega. Understood?" "Understood," Metal nodded, flying out to Mobius.

Little did he know what surprises he had in store for him…


	9. Right Now My Friend Needs Me

**If any of you are confused by Mephiles' backstory I didn't get it wrong, it's because since the events in Sonic 06 never happened, Mephiles was never created by the Solaris project going wrong. But that doesn't mean that he never got created a different way…**

It was unusual that Metal had left without saying goodbye to Callie. But she was upset, and if Metal told her he was leaving she would get even more worried. Metal tried shaking the thought of Callie being upset to concentrating on destroying Omega. He couldn't get rid of the thought, but he continued to fly.

**-The Death Egg-**

Callie was looking for her PS2 game, _'Jak 3'. _She looked amongst her videogame hoard, until she found a necklace. It had a silver chain with a black jewel in a teardrop shape. She recognised it – it was her birthday present when she was seven years old from Steel. _'I always wondered where this went…' _she thought. Callie put the necklace around her neck. After putting it on, she continued looking for her videogame.

**-Mobius-**

Metal was trying to track down Omega, before hearing a familiar voice. "So, you're Metal Sonic," it said. Metal turned around fast. It was a robot identical to Sniper.

Nobody but Mecha Klaus.

Klaus looked at Metal smugly. "GUN have gotten word that you're here," "I don't care, I'm doing my job like all robots should do," Metal responded. "For what?" Klaus asked. "To satisfy your creator?" "I saved your life, Klaus!" Metal yelled. "But you didn't save me from this!" Klaus countered, pointing at himself with both hands. "I'm sticking with my order," Metal finalized, carrying on his search. "And I'm sticking with mine!" Klaus compared. Metal looked at him. Klaus showed him his shoulder. He had the G.U.N logo painted carefully on it. "My order is to bring you to them."

Now Metal was getting mad. He turned back around and looked at Klaus. "I don't want to fight you…" he began, readying his weapons. "…But I will if I have to!" "You think that an old model like you can take me on?" Klaus asked rhetorically. "The older the wiser, as the flesh say," Metal replied. "But your worth nothing," Klaus corrected. "Robots and fleshlings are different. Robots aren't alive." Metal began trying to attack Klaus, but Klaus continued insulting him. "Robots don't have real feelings. If I killed Callie you wouldn't really care about it – it would be in your stupid programming!" Metal's eyes brightened in anger. "All the thoughts you're thinking right now is just programming!" "TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW YOU BASTARD!" Metal bellowed.

**-The Death Egg-**

Techno-Matter saw Sniper and Emmi. Emmi was a good friend to him, so he decided to go and speak to her and Sniper. "Oh, hey, Techno-Matter," Emmi greeted. "Hello," Techno-Matter responded in his usual robotic voice. "Do you know where Metal went?" Sniper asked. "I think he went on a mission," Techno-Matter guessed. "He didn't tell us that he was going on a mission," Emmi pointed out. "Maybe he was rushed out?" Sniper theorized. "Maybe," Emmi agreed. "It's the only guess right now."

**-Mobius-**

Metal had his hands around Klaus' neck while pinning him down, as if he was strangling him. Klaus kicked him off. "If I knew that you were going to be like this, then I would have left you to die!" Metal announced. "And I will definitely leave you to die now!" Metal grabbed hold of Klaus by his arms, ripping them off their joints. Klaus didn't feel any pain, but was annoyed. Metal then tore off Klaus' legs, then finally his head. He looked down at the robot limbs strewn across the ground. "You deserved it," he growled, walking away.

Continuing his search, Metal had found Omega in the distance. He targeted him, read to attack. But before he could a chain tangled around his wrist. This made Metal annoyed, so he tried tugging at it. Another chain tangled around his other wrist. Then a chain tangled both of his ankles together, tripping him up. Metal fell on his front. "We've got him!" a voice of a man yelled. Various soldiers ran to Metal. Metal tried standing back up, but the soldiers prevented him. He began bleeping crazily. "Use the taser!" a soldier yelled at the other. The other soldier nodded, tasering Metal to shut him off.

**-The Death Egg-**

Eggman was still waiting for Metal to come back. _'I just hope he hasn't been destroyed,' _he thought. _'He'll make Callie worried.'_

**-G.U.N Fortress-**

Metal was not shut off for long. He was now very angry. He was bound in place by metallic straps holding down his wrists and ankles. He knew that he would soon escape – this wasn't enough to hold him.

_In Another Room…_

"So the idea is that after putting the tracking device inside Metal Sonic we wait for either him to escape or somebody coming to rescue him," Tower repeated. "Understood?" "Understood," two other soldiers saluted. They then went into the room where Metal was.

_Metal's Room…_

Metal saw the soldiers entering, narrowing his red eyes. "What do you want from me?" he asked, sounding angry. "You are Eggman's greatest creation, we have been after you for years!" one answered. "The doctor has many robots, destroying me does nothing!" Metal taunted. "He'll just build another one of me," "Turn him off," the second soldier answered. The first one found Metal's off switch, flicking it. Metal instantly switched off.

One soldier opened up Metal's chest plate, placing the tracking device inside. "Hey, whilst we have him don't you think we should find out more about his spare-time life?" the soldier not doing anything suggested. "You can do that," the first soldier replied, fixing Metal's chest plate back on. "But you won't find much out."

The first soldier left the room, while the other began trying to find out about Metal. He found files.

_+ Photographs_

_+ Videos_

_+ Digital Log_

_+ Music_

_+ Schedule_

_+ Mission Log_

The soldier was interested in the first three, ignoring the others. He looked at the photographs. Some of the photographs were expected, but the ones of Callie were not. All soldiers knew that Metal and Callie were friends, but not best friends.

After viewing the pictures, the soldier looked at the videos. He clicked on one with Callie on it at random.

**-The Video-**

"Metal," a female child's voice said. The camera – obviously Metal's view – turned to look at a seven year-old Callie. "Do you want to play _'Ascension' _with me on _'Black Ops'_?" "Alright," Metal replied. "…Are you filming again?" Callie giggled. "Oh, I didn't mean to do that," Metal replied, and then the video ended.

**-Reality-**

Now it was to the Digital Log, and the soldier found an entry submitted 2 minutes ago.

**Metal's Digital Log**

I have been captured by G.U.N. I think I can escape, but I am switched off. They're going to deactivate me. I haven't even said goodbye to Callie. I left her secretly. All I can leave as what must be my last entry is I love Callie. It seems awkward for a robot but I do. Since nobody will actually see this I feel no guilt in saying it.

**-Metal**

The soldier showed sympathy for Metal. Though he was just a robot, there was someone who needed him. And not just for chores.

**-The Death Egg-**

"I have just received a message alert from Metal Sonic," Techno-Matter informed. "He has been captured by GUN." Emmi gasped, while Sniper only attempted to. "We have to rescue him!" Sniper heroically exclaimed. "Hold it, Sniper," Emmi responded, hitting Sniper on the head, causing him to fall down. "It's too risky to break into a base of thousands of enemies," "Sniper is the world's strongest robot," Techno-Matter corrected. "Yeah, but when he surrenders he ain't cool," Emmi added. Sniper stood back up, rubbing his head. "Hey, you're a girl! Don't tell me how to live my life!" he snarled. Emmi just smiled at him in a jokey manner. Techno-Matter was confused.

In her room, Callie armed herself with an M16. She had overheard the fact that Metal had been captured, and was going to rescue him. It was time for her to do something for a change. It was time for Callie Robotnik to do some heroics.

**-G.U.N Fortress-**

The second soldier came back in the room. "I was being sarcastic when I told you to try finding out about him," he said to the researching soldier. "But he's not an ordinary robot," the second solider replied. "He's friends with a human girl," "Yes, Callie Robotnik," the first soldier agreed. "But he just admitted in his Digital Log that he loves her!" the second soldier argued. "Are you suggesting we don't destroy him after he leads us to his base?" the first soldier interrogated. The second soldier stood quiet.

**-Space-**

Callie was using the Extreme Gear to zoom through space and down to Mobius, where her best friend was waiting for her. She had been trained for nine years to fight, and that is what she was now going to do for real. The Extreme Gear was so fast that she took hardly any time to make it to Mobius.

**-The Death Egg-**

"Great, now we've gotta go after Callie!" Sniper complained. "If we do then we will all be destroyed," Techno-Matter predicted. "But Callie will not be destroyed," "No, you idiot, she will DIE!" Emmi corrected. "Incorrect," Techno-Matter responded. "She will live and return with Metal Sonic."

**-Outside G.U.N Fortress-**

The large entry to the fortress stood right before her. Callie took her time to admire it, then jumping off the Extreme Gear and hiding it in a bush. Now was the time for Callie to save her friend.


	10. Face of an Angel, Spawn of the Devil

**Yeah, Callie isn't like Maria, is she? Maria would only beg to have Shadow spared to live, or sacrifice herself, while Callie just gets an M16 and massacres everybody! You can definitely believe she has links between both Eggman and Metal, can't you?**

Callie began kicking the wall. It took only a few kicks for it to finally be broken down. Soldiers had their guns ready on the other side, but when the smoke cleared they didn't want to shoot. Callie cocked her gun. "Where's Metal Sonic?" she asked, threatening. Nobody answered. "I will fire – where's Metal Sonic?" she repeated. There was still no answer, until the sound of various gun cocking was heard. The soldiers were now pointing at her with their guns.

"We know who you are," one said. "You're Callie Robotnik, daughter of Eggman and the girl infused with Metal Sonic's powers!" "And your point is?" Callie yawned, then pointing her gun at the soldier. "Tell me where Metal is now!" "You'll never get to him in time, girl!" the soldier growled. "TELL ME!" Callie demanded.

**-The Death Egg-**

"If Eggman discovers what Callie is doing he'll kill us all!" Emmi reminded. "Incorrect," Techno-Matter corrected. "Sniper and I will be deactivated and you will be killed." Emmi's feeling of relief turned back into the feeling of panic. "That _really _helps, Techno!" she snapped sarcastically. Emmi and Techno-Matter were nose-to-nose, until the three altogether noticed Eggman heading towards them.

"Do any of you three know where Callie is?" Eggman asked. "Uh… well, you see, doctor…" Emmi nervously chuckled, blushing. Eggman stroked his moustache, waiting for Emmi to finish her answer. Emmi nervously laughed. "Yeah… and she well, um…" "Get on with it!" Eggman bellowed, causing Emmi to jump into Techno-Matter's arms. Eggman frowned at her. Techno-Matter stood her back on the ground, nudging her forwards. Emmi looked into the corner of her eyes, rubbing her fingers together in nervousness. "She, um… went to the G.U.N Fortress to rescue Metal…" "WHAT?" Eggman asked angrily. Emmi flinched. "We couldn't stop her! She took an M165 with her and went!" Eggman began pacing around angrily, grunting to himself. "The three of you go to the base and get her back before she gets herself killed!" he commanded. The three made a run for it to an escape pod.

**-G.U.N Fortress-**

Callie kicked down every door which was in her way. Soldiers tried their best to hold her off without gunfire, but were either unable to hold her off or killed by her. Callie would do anything to get Metal back, and she had to get to him before it was too late.

**-Outside G.U.N Fortress-**

"How do you think she got in?" Sniper asked. Emmi looked around, and then noticed the large gaping hole in the wall. "There!" she pointed. "Let's go!" It wasn't until various spotlights shone on them. "Intruders alert!" a watchman cried repeatedly. Gunshots then began firing. "Quick!" Sniper yelled, trying to defend Emmi because she was flesh. "I am TITANIUM!" he yelled as bullets ricocheted off him.

**-G.U.N Fortress-**

Callie finally kicked the door down which lead to the room Metal was being held in, seeing two GUN soldiers. "Freeze!" one yelled, pointing his gun. Callie pointed her gun in response, cocking it. "Girl with a gun, don't push it!" she warned. "Drop the weapon," the soldier ordered. "Don't fire at her!" the other soldier commanded. "She is the one Metal loves!" Callie looked at the soldier confused. "He doesn't love me," she corrected. "He does," the soldier replied. "Look at his recent Digital Log entry."

The soldier opened up Metal's Digital Log, showing Callie the latest entry. "He loves you," he repeated. "Even he thinks it's awkward, but he does," "Then why are you holding him prisoner?" Callie asked. "I was thinking of letting him go," the soldier responded. "But he wouldn't let me!" The soldier pointed to the other soldier in the room angrily. "Because he's just a machine!" the other soldier explained. The soldier who was sticking up for Metal undid the straps and switched him back on.

_Somewhere else…_

"Callie!" Sniper yelled. "Where are you?" "Halt!" a soldier yelled as he and a group of soldiers ran towards them. Techno-Matter stepped forwards and transformed his hands into machine guns, firing at them all. "Go and find Callie – I will hold them off!" he ordered in his robotic voice. "But what about you?" Emmi asked. "I will be here when you come back. If I'm not, then just go without me!" Techno-Matter answered. "…Keep your guard up, Techno-Matter," Emmi reminded, leaving. Sniper nodded once to him, going ahead.

_Back with Callie…_

Metal jumped up angrily, his eyes brightened, looking as if he was about to murder somebody. "Metal, don't!" Callie commanded. Metal saw her, his eyes dimming back to their original colour. "Callie?" he asked. Callie nodded, smiling. "How did you get here?" "I used your Extreme Gear," Callie answered. "What are the others doing?" Metal questioned. "They aren't here," Callie replied. "Metal! Callie!" Sniper's voice then yelled, as the two others entered.

Sniper saw the two soldiers, and froze. One was pointing a gun at him, causing him to use Emmi as a 'human shield'. "What are _you _doing here?" Callie asked, surprised. "We were ordered by your father to look for you," Emmi answered. "Techno-Matter is behind fighting off all the other soldiers," "Why are we even letting this happen?" the soldier pointing his gun asked. "The commander wants Callie dead and the robots destroyed!" Emmi's reaction was just a frown. "If that's how things are going to be then I'm resigning!" the other soldier responded. "I don't want to harm them. Callie's the daughter of an evil genius, and the robots are doing their duty. If they don't, then it's deactivation," "Since when were you on _their _side?" the second soldier asked. "Since I found out what their point of view was like," the first soldier answered. "You guys get out of here!"

Metal lifted Callie up. "Why are you letting them go?" the other soldier asked angrily. The other soldier didn't answer, watching as the enemies escaped.

_After reaching where Techno-Matter was told to meet them…_

"Techno-Matter!" Emmi called. There was no answer. "Um, isn't this Techno-Matter's cape?" Sniper asked, standing by a black cape. Emmi went up to it and lifted it up. She said nothing. "There's still hope, Emmi," Callie assured. "Techno-Matter takes his cape off to fight. He probably left." Emmi shook her head. "He told use that he would be here," she recalled. "And he said that if he wasn't here, we should just leave." Emmi let out a sigh. "Let's just go." Emmi carried the cape and back to the pod, followed by Sniper. "I'll just use the Extreme Gear to get back," Callie said. "How about if I rode it and carried you?" Metal suggested. "Okay," Callie shrugged, climbing into Metal's arms. Metal got aboard the Extreme Gear. "Alright, us two vs. you two!" Sniper started. "You're on!" Callie and Metal both agreed at the same time, zooming off. Emmi and Sniper followed in their pod.

**-The Death Egg-**

Metal and Callie were the first ones to reach the base. "We won!" Callie laughed. "All thanks to my speedy technology!" Emmi smiled at her. "So you did," she admitted. She then sighed. "I just hope that Techno-Matter, wherever he is, is safe." Callie put her arm around Emmi. "He's Techno-Matter," she reminded her. "Nothing can destroy him," "I know," Emmi sighed. "It's just that… they may have found a way to destroy him," "I know he's still out there, Emmi," Callie assured. "Whatever is happening to him, he is still in activation."

**-G.U.N Fortress-**

_Sometime later…_

"So many soldiers were killed in a massacre attack?" Tower asked. "Yes, sir," the soldier who witnessed the escape answered. "And Graham resigned?" Tower questioned. "Yes, sir," the soldier repeated in the same tone. Tower sighed. "Many were good soldiers," he saluted. "Let us remember them well. Who killed them?" "I remember the violet hedgehog mentioning a robot named Techno-Matter fighting off the soldiers, and Callie had an M16," the soldier answered. "Techno-Matter didn't kill many soldiers," another soldier replied. "He killed around 29 men, the last being the one trying to destroy him before he made an escape. Callie killed the other 67 soldiers. She is too dangerous," "Then when we invade the Death Egg we will have to kill her," Tower finalized. "After we repair Mecha Klaus."

**-The Death Egg-**

Callie was sticking more things in the book she started with Metal as a ten year-old. They would write things in it and stick things in it, doing random stuff. Callie was sticking some photographs of her and Metal in, then writing an explanation beside them

_Me and Metal doing target practise_

_My 12__th__ Birthday_

_Me owning Metal in a fight_

Callie remembered that it was going to be Metal's birthday soon. Not like robots had birthdays, but Callie wanted Metal to feel a little appreciated. It was almost as if Metal himself had forgotten. He hadn't mentioned anything; he had just carried on as normal. So Callie closed the book and put it back in its spot.

**-With Metal-**

Metal knew that Callie knew that he loved her, and was a little embarrassed. But did Callie love him back? Probably not, as he was just a mere machine.

"Metal," he heard Callie say behind him. He turned to face her. "You know, don't you?" he asked. "I do," Callie answered. Metal remained embarrassed. "But I feel the same way for you." Metal looked up slightly to be in full eye contact. "I know that you're only saying that to not be rude," he pointed out. "I'm being honest," Callie admitted. "I have done for years. I just thought it would be awkward telling you because… well… I'm flesh and bone, you're… you're…" "I know," Metal understood. Callie then realised something. "Wait, what about Techno-Matter and Emmi?" she asked. "They were in love before Techno went missing." Metal knew this was true.

"That is true…" he recalled. "But I still don't believe you completely." Callie kissed Metal on his muzzle. Metal was surprised. "Still don't believe me?" Callie asked, smiling. Metal didn't speak. Callie giggled at him. Metal still remained silent. "Have I malfunctioned your speaking?" Callie questioned. "…No…" Metal answered. "I'm just…" "You're just embarrassed and a little nervous," Callie continued. "Am I?" Metal asked. "Yes," Callie repeated. "You might not know that because you have never experienced them both together." Metal noted this.

**-Outside the Room-**

Metal's other brother, Metal Scourge, had seen the two speaking. He sneaked in the room, managing not to draw attention. He switched on the stereo, playing _'Americano' _by Lady Gaga. Metal and Callie looked at him. Mettle only responded with a nod, and quickly left the room. Metal and Callie looked at each other. "Think you can dance?" Callie asked. "How about a dance fight?" Metal asked. "You're on!" Callie smiled.

The one starting the dance was Metal, doing a little bit of Spanish dancing. When the first chorus came on, he pulled Callie towards him and twirled her, catching her in his arm and leaning her back a little. Callie smiled at him, getting back to her feet. She danced a few steps back, and then started doing some female Spanish dancing.

Metal would have smirked. "Is that all you've got?" he asked. "I'm far from done," Callie replied.


	11. Betrayal

**How sweet, Metal Sonic and Callie love each other, and the silent Mettle (Metal Scourge) has found out and is secretly helping! Plus Callie can use an M16 without practise. But in this chapter Metal trusts Callie as an understand grown-up and shares his hidden fears and nightmares with her.**

Together the two danced in a Spanish way. The next chorus they were doing a move like the Tango, on the last verse the were mimicking each other's moves almost, and finally for an ending move Metal lifted Callie into his arms.

_Later…_

It was Metal's turn to write in the book. Callie was with Emmi, sitting by her side to comfort her. Metal, on the other hand, was sitting alone in the cell room, leaning against his cell. He looked to his left still expecting to see Steel sitting beside him against his cell, but he didn't. Metal looked back down, but spoke as if speaking to him anyway. "I don't know anything anymore," he began. "Callie risked her life for me. She used a gun without practise and killed many. Everyone was attacking her… I don't think she's safe…" There was no response. Metal didn't care. "My insides don't feel the same after Callie rescued me. Like there's an extra part of me."

Silence.

Metal attempted a sigh. "I have to protect Callie," he finalized. "If anything happens, even if it costs my data, then I must protect her." Metal stood up. "First I will scan myself to see if something has happened to me."

**-G.U.N Fortress-**

"Sir, we have located Metal Sonic aboard the Death Egg!" a soldier informed the commander. "Save his coordinates," the commander ordered. "He or somebody else may realise that he has a tracking device inside of him, and may destroy it," "Yes, sir," saluted the soldier, saving the coordinates. "After we repair Klaus, we will attack."

**-The Death Egg-**

"Emmi, trust me, Techno-Matter is somewhere and active," Callie informed. "But he may never come back…" Emmi sighed. "He will," Callie assured. "It will just take him time." Emmi just sighed in response. "Callie, he won't come back," she revealed. "You mustn't lose faith, Emmi!" Callie countered. "Techno is out there and he either needs us to rescue him or he's coming back. If he needed us to rescue him, he would have sent out the alert to one of his close robot friends, like Metal." After Callie said that, Metal entered the room.

"Come to join the pout party?" Callie asked. "Yes," Metal answered. "Oh," Callie responded. "What's your reason?" "I just feel like that I have become a threat," Metal announced. "I think there is something like a bomb inside of me," "Then scan yourself," Callie advised. "If there is something in there Eggman will remove it and dispose of it," "Okay," Metal replied. "I just came to you in case something went wrong when having it removed and I had to be deactivated," "Don't say that," Callie pleaded.

Metal looked down a little, unaware that he even was. "There is low chance that I will deactivate," he revealed. "That's good, right?" Callie asked. "Trust me, Metal, you're going to be fine," "I always will trust you, Callie," Metal corrected, turning to walk away, but then stopped, looking over his shoulder. He saw Callie smiling at him from behind. "There is nothing to be afraid of," she reassured. "I know," Metal replied. "I'm just being careful." With that, Metal carried on walking and headed to the Scanning Room.

_After reaching the Scanning Room…_

Robots were supposed to go into the Scanning Room with the doctor and not alone. They should only be alone if they had permission to go by themselves, but Metal had gone in himself without permission. So far Eggman or any other robot hadn't realised yet. Metal stood inside the scanner, as its blue beam scanned him up and down, left and right. He looked at his final result, and saw a tracking device inside of him. Metal's eyes went from red to green.

Metal flew out of the room, until his older brother grabbed hold of him. "Let go!" he demanded. "No," Mecha Sonic replied. "What were you doing in there?" "It was urgent!" Metal responded. "For what reason?" Mecha demanded. "There's a tracking device inside me! It must be removed!" "It will be easier removing you all together," Mecha corrected. "The doctor never said anything about me having to be destroyed!" Metal snapped, flipping Mecha over. Though Mecha was much bigger and more heavily armoured than Metal was, he was light and easy to take down. "Never mess with me again," Metal warned. With that little warning, Metal walked away.

Quickly, Metal headed back to Callie. "There's a tracking device inside me," he announced. Callie and Emmi were quiet, but secretly shocked. "It must have been put inside me when I was captured by G.U.N," "Why haven't you asked Eggman to remove it?" Emmi asked. "I can't find him," Metal replied. "But I'll double-check."

Metal spent a while searching for his creator, until finding him in his room. "Master-" Metal was stopped by the sight of his creator brutally injured. "Master!" he yelled, flying up beside him. "Hmhmhm. A little lapdog, I see," a recent familiar voice sniggered. Metal turned around. "Mecha Sonic!" he yelled. Mecha approached him. As he did, Metal took some steps back until he was against one of Eggman's desks. Mecha towered over him, looking down. "You think that just because you flipped me over you are stronger than me," he began. "But you're not," "I'll do it again," Metal warned. "And you won't like it because last time was just a warning!" "Oh, really?" Mecha asked. He punched Metal in the face, making him crash right into the desk as sparks of electricity spilled from it.

Mecha chortled. "And you're supposed to be the Greatest Creation of the great Doctor Robotnik!" he taunted. Metal glared at him, stuttering at first, then managing to speak. "You feel light when I flip you…" he stuttered. "You should be no problem for Metal Sniper…" Mecha only laughed. "That wimpy shrimp? You must be joking!" he laughed mockingly. "You can't possibly think that _he _can defeat me!" "Oh, really?" a kid's voice asked. Of course, it was Metal Sniper.

Sniper tried his best not to look afraid, pointing his laser at Mecha. "Stand down, Mecha Sonic!" he demanded. "Or I will destroy you!" "You can't even hurt a fly," Mecha snorted. "I'm stronger than you ever were and ever will be!" Sniper corrected. "Yes," Mecha agreed. "But you can't even use your powers." Right after he said that, Sniper fired his laser at Mecha's face, regretting it. Mecha growled. Sniper began backing away, then running. "Sniper!" Metal yelled. He then knew that his little brother would manage the fight alone if he found it within him.

Metal tended to his creator's wounds with his healing power. Eggman opened his eyes to see his azure creation, feeling a tad of fear. "You will not get away with this mutiny!" he hissed. "But it is Mecha Sonic who is the one betraying us, Master," Metal corrected. "He is chasing Sniper at the moment," "Destroy him, Metal Sonic!" Eggman ordered. "Destroy him at all costs!" "Yes, Master," Metal saluted, chasing down Mecha.

**-With Mecha Sonic-**

Sniper was now cornered, shaking in fear. Mecha pointed his built-in machine gun at the midget machine. Sniper got down on his knees and clasped both his hands together. "Please, I beg you! Spare me!" he begged. "I surrender!" Mecha looked down at the pleading machine below him and considered what he said. "Alright," he said. "I'll spare you to not be destroyed…" Sniper attempted a sigh of relief. "But you must do what I tell you!" "No!" Sniper reacted. "Then I'll make you," Mecha responded. He grabbed hold of Sniper. Sniper let out a robotic whine.

Mecha covered Sniper's eyes for a minute. Sniper whimpered. All of his minds and thoughts then changed. His personality was now fearsome; his only thought was to obey Mecha Sonic – his Master. "Now, do as I tell you," Mecha commanded, removing his hand from Sniper's eyes. "Yes, master," Sniper responded in an emotionless tone, a blank expression painted on his face. "Destroy Metal Sonic." Mecha ordered. "Yes, master," Sniper repeated in the same tone, flying away through the hallways.

**-With Metal-**

Metal looked all over for his target. There was no sign of him. He then saw a chrome robot standing beside him, giving him a glare. "Sniper, you're okay!" Metal 'sighed' with relief. "You must be destroyed!" Sniper said in his emotionless tone. "No…" Metal quietly said. Mecha came up beside his chrome slave. "If you were a true big brother, you wouldn't fight him," he explained. Sniper grabbed hold of Metal. "Let me go!" Metal demanded. Metal couldn't escape the grip of his younger brother.

Mecha snickered evilly. "I'll leave you to fight each other; I'll go and destroy some of your friends while I'm at it," he said. "But at least you will die in SAFE hands!" With that, Mecha flew off, leaving Metal and Sniper to fight each other.

Sniper threw Metal down on the ground and pointed his laser at him. "Sniper… don't make me fight you!" Metal begged. "Must destroy Metal Sonic!" Sniper yelled. "No, you don't have to destroy me!" Metal responded. "We're brothers!" "Does not compute!" Sniper replied. "You know it does, Sniper," Metal corrected. "Don't let Mecha Sonic use you as his slave!" Sniper only gazed right into Metal's green irises. "Please," Metal begged, as if sobbing. "I don't want to hurt you. "Metal…" Sniper staggered. "Is… my… brother…" Sniper collapsed.

Metal crawled to his little brother, leaning his body against his. "Everything is going to be okay, Sniper," Metal assured. Sniper looked up at him afraid. Metal only looked down at him comfortingly. "You managed to fight his control," he explained. "That's what you were built for." Sniper tightly hugged Metal, whimpering. Metal hugged him back. "Don't be afraid," he comforted. "Hide yourself from the attack, I'll help the others." Sniper flew off to hide himself, while Metal flew in another direction to find his older brother.

**-With Mecha Sonic-**

"If you do not answer me I will tear out your throat!" Mecha threatened Emmi. Emmi breathed heavily in fear. "Answer me!" Mecha demanded. "I… I won't tell you anything!" Emmi hesitated to answer, trembling. "I'll give you one last chance, hedgehog…" Mecha warned, tightening his grip around Emmi's neck. Emmi began going a little purple and choking. "Tell me where Callie is!" "Never!" Emmi choked. "Hmph," Mecha muttered. "Then it looks like the only thing I'll be getting out of you is your throat." Mecha used his other arm to punch into Emmi's throat. Emmi screamed brokenly. She felt the cold metal of Mecha's hand grab something inside her, tearing it from its place. She found she could no longer scream. The thing inside her was fully torn out and it was now in Mecha's fist. It was her throat.

Emmi felt the blood spewing from out of her, and she couldn't breathe. Inside her throat was sore and stinging, until she saw everything around her ceasing. Mecha sniggered at her. "I'll see you in hell, Emmi!" he taunted. Emmi's eyelids dropped and she couldn't reopen them.

**-With Callie-**

Callie heard Emmi's shattered scream, running towards where it must have come from. "Emmi!" she called. "Emmi, I'm coming!" As she turned a corner she saw Mecha Sonic standing by Emmi's bloody corpse. Callie halted herself immediately, gasping. Mecha, who initially had his back to her, turned around and saw her.

Mecha turned around fully, making his way over to her. Callie quickly turned around and ran. She knew that Mecha would catch up, but she had to try escaping from him. Tears ran down her cheeks as she ran. She heard the sound of an engine getting louder behind her, not bothering to turn around. She knew that the sound was Mecha Sonic gaining on her. Callie kept on trying to move fast, until a metallic hand grabbed her forearm. "Metal!" she screamed.

**-With Metal-**

Metal heard Callie's scream. "Callie!" he yelled. He flew as fast as he could to find Callie, until stumbling across Emmi's lip body. "Oh, Emmi…" he robotically sobbed. "Metal! Help me!" he heard Callie scream. Metal shook off the horror of seeing Emmi's corpse and carried on, following the echo of Callie's voice on his tracker. "I'm coming, Callie!" he shouted.

**-With Callie-**

Callie was locked inside robotocizer-like machine, banging her fists on the glass. Mecha stared at her, chuckling. "You'll never hurt Metal!" Callie yelled through the glass. "And you will never be able to find him, either!" "But he will come for you," Mecha replied. "And when he does, I can destroy him!" "No!" Callie exclaimed. She continued to try breaking down the glass. "Metal, don't come after me!"

**-With Metal-**

Metal continued to search for Callie. "Callie, where are you?" Metal asked. There was no answer. Metal was worried. One minute Callie was screaming for him the next she was silent. "Callie, yell if you can hear me!" Metal called. There was still no answer. Metal didn't give up. He searched all over until seeing Callie inside a glass tube banging her fists hard against it.

"Callie!" Metal exclaimed, flying over to Callie. "Metal, run!" Callie commanded. "No, I am here to get you out!" Metal replied. "No, Metal, you don't understand! Mecha Sonic is-" "Did someone call?" Mecha asked, appearing from the shadows. Metal turned around, but was frozen in a beam so that he could not move anything but his eyes. "Metal!" Callie yelled, her hands hardly pressed against the glass.

Mecha sniggered. "Maybe I can't destroy you, Metal…" he began. Metal stared at him in return. "And I understand now would be a good chance… But we don't want to make your deactivation _too _simple now, do we? So I'll be sure to make you suffer." Mecha pulled a lever with force, and a green glow shone around Callie. She began shaking as if tasered. "M-M-M-Met…al! R-R-R-R-Runnnnnnnnn!" she commanded, until collapsing. "Callie!" Metal yelled, still unable to move. The glass lowered, and Callie groaned. She opened her eyes and weakly pushed herself up, looking at Metal with a vacant expression. "Must destroy Metal Sonic in order of Mecha Sonic!" she yelled emotionlessly. "No…" Metal gasped sadly.


	12. Mischief and Trickery

**So despite Mecha Sonic being quite nice, though he didn't appear much, he is now betraying the Doctor. The question is, why? There's a reason. Also, Callie has been hypnotized! Will Metal make her remember herself? Or will one of the two get killed in a fight to the death? All will be revealed in this chapter…**

"No… Callie…" Metal muffled. Callie struggled to get to her feet, until getting the hang of her balance. She began walking over to Metal with the same blank expression on her face. Metal was released from the beam, left in the room alone with his brainwashed friend. He began backing away. "Callie, don't make me fight you!" he begged. Callie continued staggering closer to him. "Metal Sonic must be destroyed!" she yelled. "I don't want to fight you, Callie…" Metal muttered. "I know you're still in there! I know you can fight Mecha's control!" "Must destroy!" Callie yelled. As she yelled her blank expression had tears running down it from her eyes.

As Callie approached Metal tears continued to stream down her face. Metal saw within her green irises that she didn't want to hurt Metal, as if she was yelling for help. "Callie, remember what Mecha Sonic did to Emmi! Remember what we've done together!" Metal yelled, trying to remind Callie of her past. Callie gazed at him. "Please, Callie, you're my friend…" Metal said softly. "Friends look out for each other and they stick together. You can't let Mecha take over you!" Callie continued her emotionless gaze.

Callie stood totally still for a moment, but then went back to trying to kill Metal. "Must kill!" she yelled. "I'm sorry I have to do this, Cal…" Metal apologized. When Callie was in his reach he punched her in the face, causing blood to come from her nose. She glared at Metal. "Callie, I am so sorry!" Metal sobbed. "I don't want to hurt you!" Callie growled at him and stood up. She pulled back her fist in an attempt to punch Metal as she came closer to him. She then punched her fist forward aiming for Metal's face, but Metal grabbed it with one hand, flipping her over.

"I really didn't want to do that…" Metal admitted. Callie angrily growled at him. She grabbed Metal's ankle while downs and pulled him from his balance. Metal fell on his back. Callie managed to get back to her feet, about to stomp hard on Metal's head. Metal knew that that would destroy him, so quickly sprung up, kicking Callie in the stomach in the process. He did it with all his strength, sending Callie smashing through about 8 steel walls. Metal felt like he wanted to cry. Though he usually beat the hell out of Callie often, he didn't like doing it now. Now wasn't for fun – Now was for real.

Callie sat up for a moment, weary. After a few seconds of uneasy swaying, she fell back down, unconscious. Metal flew through the wall's holes to get to her. "Callie?" he asked, gently shaking her shoulder. Callie didn't wake up. Metal lifted her in his arms, carrying her to her bedroom.

On his way to Callie's room, he encountered Mecha again. "It seems like you had to kill her," he said smugly. "She's not dead," Metal corrected. "Why are you doing this, Mecha?" Mecha sneered in response. "Being tossed aside for years is no way any robot wants to be treated," he began. "So why not take revenge?" Metal narrowed his eyes. "I knew you would look at me like that," Mecha predicted. "Because I knew that you had nothing to argue back with!" Suddenly, some bullets hit him on the back of the head. Mecha turned around sharply. Standing there, damaged, was Techno-Matter.

"Techno-Matter?" Mecha asked angrily. "I thought you were destroyed back on Mobius!" "Incorrect," Techno replied. "I escaped my captor but got severely damaged on the way back to the Death Egg." Techno then aimed his machine gun for Mecha's face. "You will pay for what you have done to Emmi!"

Techno began firing at Mecha, leaving some bullet holes in his armouring. Mecha barely had any time to shoot back with his machine gun, when a bullet hit his eye screen. Mecha went blind, unable to see, until everything he saw went black and he deactivated.

Mecha collapsed to his knees, then onto his front, deactive. Techno looked down at him. His emotionless face somehow looked sad. Not for what he had done to his ex-friend, but for what his ex-friend had done to his best friend. Emmi did not deserve such a brutal death for no reason. Techno's guns turned back into his hands, as he turned around and began walking away. "Techno-Matter," Metal began. Techno stopped.

"We can bring her back," Metal assured. "We cannot," Techno replied, sounding as emotionless as always. "Emmi is not deactivated, she is dead." Techno began walking again. Metal tried a sigh. "I could've saved her if I got to her in time…" he exhaled. He then carried the unconscious Callie to her bedroom, then placing her gently down on her bed.

Metal used his healing power to once again heal Callie, watching her open her eyes slowly. Her half-open eyes looked up at him. "Metal…?" she asked. "What happened…? How did I get here…? Was I robotocized?" "Everything's okay, Callie," Metal assured. "Mecha Sonic brainwashed you and made you attack me," "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Callie apologized. "There is no need for an apology," Metal responded. "It wasn't your fault. It is I who is sorry for fighting you," "You made the right choice," Callie confirmed.

Callie stood up. "Are the other's alright?" she asked. "I think so," Metal replied. "Techno-Matter returned and defeated Mecha Sonic to avenge Emmi…" "Techno's alive?" Callie asked. "Yes," Metal answered. "But he is upset over Emmi," "We should bury her," Callie replied. "She fought well and was the one who lit up the base and gave it a little spirit." Metal nodded in agreement. "Let's go," he said, wandering off to find Emmi's corpse.

After finding Emmi's corpse, Metal lifted it in his arms and flew outside to the moon's surface. "We're burying her here," he said, using his chest-blast to form a hole. He gently placed Emmi inside the hole, speaking before he began recovering her. "You have always been a good friend, Emmi," he said. "And thank you for being an understanding friend," Callie added. "Someone I could talk to with girl problems," "You told me to say goodbye to Eggman's Mechanical Manmade Intelligence, which is what I'll do," Metal said. "Sayonara, Emmi the Hedgehog."

**Metal's Digital Log**

Two lost in one day. I lost my older brother, Mecha Sonic, and my good friend, Emmi. Mecha Sonic lost his mind and killed Emmi. Emmi gave herself up to protect Callie. Though Mecha killed her, I miss them both. It wasn't Mecha's fault in some ways. But Callie keeps telling me that they will both come back as Techno-Matter did. I half believe her and half don't. So in the meantime, R.I.P Mecha Sonic and Emmi.

**-Metal**

_Later…_

**-G.U.N Fortress-**

Mecha Klaus awakened from his repairs. "Welcome back, agent Klaus," a soldier welcomed. Klaus sat himself up. "We found you destroyed. Can you remember anything before now?" Klaus tried to remember. He could remember Metal Sonic battling him. "Metal Sonic…" he growled. "He did this to me," "He must be destroyed," another soldier finalized. "But what if Callie gets in the way?" the other soldier asked. "Like the commander said, we must kill her," the second soldier replied. "And Klaus, we're going to need you."

**-The Death Egg-**

Callie and Metal watched Techno-Matter through the window by Emmi's grave. "I feel sorry for him," Callie sighed. She then turned her head to Metal, but he didn't meet her gaze. "Won't she resurrect?" Callie asked. Metal looked at her. "What do you mean?" he questioned. "As a robot Emmi would always come back when she died," Callie explained. "Because Eggman repaired her," Metal corrected. Callie shook her head. "She would always respawn," she finalized. "Emmi was a Spartan," "What do you mean by that?" asked Metal. "A Spartan is a person or thing that respawns and is strongly built," Callie described. "And what if she doesn't respawn?" Metal asked. Callie thought for a moment. "Then she is forever gone," she revealed. Callie then turned around and began walking out of the room. "Where are you going?" questioned Metal. "To find Mecha Sonic," Callie answered. Metal bleeped, frustrated.

"Why are you trying to find that traitor?" Metal asked. "There was something wrong with his programming," Callie replied. "He is usually a nice robot, and you know it. Don't turn on your older brother now, Metal." Metal looked into the corner of his eye screen to think. "What if Sniper lost his programming? Would you destroy him and leave him? Or alternatively, would Sniper destroy and leave you if you had a malfunction?" Metal turned to face the other way. "You're right," he admitted. "It was not usual for Mecha to turn against us all. Something must have messed with his programming. Do you think you will be able to find out what happened to it?" "I'll probably be able to what happened," Callie responded.

**-G.U.N Fortress-**

"Klaus, we need you to fly up to the Death Egg to keep an eye on the inhabitants," Tower explained. "Yes, sir," Klaus saluted. "But wouldn't they notice me?" "First sneak on board and capture Metal Sniper," Tower replied. "Take his belt and put it on, fly back to the Death Egg, spy on the ones on board, then send us the alert when you think we should invade. Understand?" "Yes, sir," Klaus repeated, flying out of the fortress and into space, heading for the Death Egg.

**-The Death Egg-**

Callie had fixed Mecha's body, now onto scanning his chip. Metal was leaning his back against the wall with his arms folded, one foot on the wall to make him look cool. "Have you found out what happened?" he asked. "You asked that ten minutes ago," Callie replied, smiling as she rolled her eyes playfully. "We've been at the for twenty minutes, Cal," Metal corrected. "Surely you must have found something," "A-ha! I've got something!" Callie exclaimed. "What?" Metal asked. "Mecha's system was hacked into wirelessly from Mobius!" Callie answered. "Can you find out where from?" Metal rushed. "Hang on…" Callie said as she tried tracking the location down on the computer. "I've pinpointed the location! It's G.U.N Fortress!" "So someone from the fortress hacked into his system?" Metal recapped. Callie nodded. "My guess is that a soldier was ordered by the Commander to hack into one of the robot's systems to attack the Death Egg," Callie theorized. "Which is why Mecha was after me – because the soldiers obviously want me dead."

Metal's eyes brightened angrily as he stood up. "I'll give them a piece of my main computer!" he growled. "No," Callie reacted. "We'll just see what happens next. If it's anything serious, then we will fight," "Understood," Metal understood. Callie then switched Mecha back on. Mecha sat up, scanning the room. "What happened?" he asked. "How did I get here?" "Don't you remember?" Metal asked. Mecha shook his head. "The last thing I remember was walking through the corridors, then I ended up here after everything went black," he recalled. "What happened to me?" "You were reprogrammed," Callie explained. "And you killed Emmi," "What?" Mecha asked angrily, standing up in an instant. "No, tell me that isn't true!" "I'm afraid so," Callie sighed. "No…" Mecha muffled. He then slammed his fist into the ground angrily.

**-With Sniper-**

Sniper got out from his hiding place in the training room, wary of any attacks from Mecha. "Is there anybody here?" he asked. "Metal? Callie? Emmi?" "Hello, Sniper," a voice similar to his own greeted. Sniper turned quickly, seeing an exact copy of himself looking at him smugly. "Miss me?" his copy, obviously Klaus, asked rhetorically. "Mecha Klaus!" Sniper gasped, backing away. "I thought you might respond with that," Klaus muttered. He then pointed his built-in laser at Sniper. Sniper's eyes widened. "Once you're out of the way and I have your belt, your friends can kiss bye-bye to themselves!" "NO!" Sniper yelled. Milliseconds after he yelled that, he made contact with the red laser blast.

The laser wasn't enough to destroy Sniper, as Klaus knew already. His objective was to capture Sniper, claim his belt and spy on the Robotniks and robots. Klaus lifted up Sniper and heaved himself to bring his victim back to the fortress.


	13. The Wrong Sniper

**Mecha Sonic is back to normal! But with Mecha Klaus replacing Metal Sniper, what is going to happen to the fellow base-mates? Will they find out that Klaus is an imposter? Or will they fall for G.U.N's scheme and all be killed/destroyed? **

Klaus had finally made it back to the fortress. Sniper remained shut-down and slightly damaged. "What should we do with him?" Klaus asked. "And why aren't we destroying him?" "Because if we reprogram him we can make him go against the others," Tower answered. "I don't see the point of that, to be honest," Klaus admitted. "He's the world's strongest robot, if he is against us then we almost have no chance," Tower explained. "But he never uses his strength," Klaus pointed out. "He does when you least expect it," Tower corrected. "Now swap belts with him and go to the Death Egg. Remember, tell us when to attack when they're not prepared."

**-The Death Egg-**

Mecha was staying well away from everyone. He tried to kill Callie, and he killed Emmi. Now the whole base would hate him. They should have destroyed him for good while he was still under GUN's control. He didn't deserve to stay in activation after what he had just done. He deserved to be destroyed.

**-With Metal-**

"Callie, she won't respawn," Metal finalized. "You don't know that," Callie replied. "Let's just change the subject. Where's Sniper?" "No idea," Metal responded. "We'll go and find him. Come on." Metal flew through the hallways at Callie's speed so that Callie could keep up with him, though Callie was pretty fast. They both began calling Sniper's name. "Sniper! Where are you?!" "Hi, guys!" a familiar voice said cheerfully. The two turned to see their old friend. "Sniper, it's good to see you alive," Metal said with a slight tone of relief. "Er… I thought you were dead, too," Sniper responded. "…What happened?" "Mecha went against us, killed Emmi and tried to make Callie destroy me," Metal explained. "Well, it's good that I survived!" Sniper pointed out. "Now… err… I gotta go and… erm… train!" With that, Sniper left using his booster. Metal and Callie both noticed this was odd.

"Is it just me, or did I just see Sniper use his booster?" asked Callie. "He used his booster," Metal answered. "Perhaps he is improving," "Maybe," Callie shrugged. "Still, he would have been more… boastful and loud about being able to use his booster, wouldn't he?" "You are right…" Metal agreed. "And he was stuttering a bit ever since we found him… Why might that be?" "He's either stressed, malfunctioning, overtaken or maybe that is an imposter," Callie theorized. "The imposter bit can't be true," Metal disagreed. "It's just a theory," Callie replied. "Come on, we'd better find Techno-Matter."

Techno-Matter was found sitting in the cell room alone. He knew that if he had been there, Emmi could have been saved. And her death was so… brutal. She didn't deserve it. And worse – one of their team members did it. If Silver had done it it would have been different, or any other of their enemies, but killed by a teammate… Techno thought that it was just terrible.

He wanted to destroy Mecha.

It wasn't until he noticed Metal and Callie walking in. Callie gave him a hug without saying anything, sorry for his loss. Of course, Emmi was a friend of hers, too. She was the only girl-friend in the base for her to talk to. She was the only one with life inside her; she was the only one she could talk to about feelings and girl-issues. But to Techno-Matter, she was different. More than just a teammate. More than just a friend. She was a… girlfriend. _His _girlfriend. And they both never knew it.

Unlike Metal and various other higher-graded robots, Techno-Matter had no way of expressing emotion. His voice was just an emotionless, stereotypical robot voice. His face was the face of a vacant, merciless killer. However, Callie and the other smarter robots understood him. Even if he didn't respond much, it wasn't his fault. When Callie hugged him, he didn't hug back. He only remained still.

"Techno, I am truly sorry for your loss," Callie apologized, still hugging him. He didn't respond in any way. "I believe she can still respawn, though. I know she can. She must!" Metal only looked sadly. He didn't say anything, because to his calculations she was wrong. But he still said absolutely nothing to them both. And really, he didn't need to mourn. He had lost Steel, and still felt for him now. And though he liked Emmi, as a robot and a hedgehog, he just couldn't be bothered anymore. His top priorities were Sniper and Callie.

Little did he know that the Sniper he was protecting wasn't the Sniper he wanted to protect.

**-G.U.N Fortress-**

Some of GUN's technology experts were working on Sniper, checking his abilities and seeing how to reprogram him. Everything they tried seemed to fail, as his programming remained the same.

While working, the workers started talking about topics related to the Death Egg II. "I still can't believe Graham left just because of Metal Sonic's photos, videos and log entries," one said. The other nodded in agreement. "For all we know they could have been false," he said. "But from the information Klaus is sending us Metal is pretty close to the girl," the first one said. "Well, we're not going to make the same mistake we made fifty years ago, are we?" the second one asked. "We're going to have to," the first announced. "But it will be no mistake. She is not like Maria. Maria cared for people. _People_. Not machines – people," "Callie cares for the machine because she hasn't been exposed to others like herself," the third reminded. "To her, the machines _are _people," "Callie is a _dangerous _human," the first corrected. "She is infused with Metal's abilities and nature. She is the daughter of a crazy, evil scientist. Look what she did to some of our soldiers – she massacred them. She killed them without mercy. If she hadn't done that maybe we wouldn't have considered her so much as a threat," "I've heard that she invented some stuff," a fourth worker added. "So she must be quite smart," "She is," the first said. "So smart that she could invent weaponry to be used against us. And I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but she is actually training to fight us with the robots. She has been doing so for almost all her life. And the commander's order are orders – when the soldiers strike with the invasion, she must be killed."

Unknown to them, Sniper had heard everything.

**-The Death Egg-**

Metal had left Callie and Techno-Matter alone. Deep inside he knew that he missed Emmi dearly, but he just couldn't admit to himself that he did. He just kept telling himself that he didn't care anymore. A robot's life was never meant to be easy. And also he decided to update his Digital Log.

**Metal's Digital Log**

Techno-Matter is really upset. Callie is comforting him; however, I don't think that it's working. But Callie seems so… convinced that Emmi will resurrect. I'm not sure if that's true, but it's just the way Callie believes it. We'll just have to see what happens.

**-Metal**

**-G.U.N Fortress-**

The technology experts were still working on Sniper. "It's just impossible to find out how to reprogram him," one revealed. The other nodded in agreement. "Maybe we should just destroy him," the third one suggested. "Probably," the second said. "Even if we found a way to get him on our side, he'd still be useless."

Suddenly, Sniper's eyes switched on. He glanced around the room quickly. Noticing that the ones in the room were working on him, he sat up quickly and backed off, still on the table. "He's awake!" the second shouted, immediately holding him down with help from the other three. They had prepared for something like this by disabling his strength, reducing it to the strength of one weak man. Or the average strength of a small child.

After some struggling, Sniper gave up. However, he was still extremely afraid, and started whimpering. How much he hated GUN, how much he hated being helpless.

"If we can't reprogram him, then what should we do?" asked the fourth worker. "We should put him with the experiments in the Experimental Lab," the first answered. Sniper was still panicking. Why would they experiment with him? It really wasn't his ideal thing to be locked up in a laboratory. Two workers then grabbed him by the arms and yanked him up, causing him to bleep in fear. The third worker picked up a transceiver. "We're bringing Metal Sniper to the Experimental Lab for tests to see what type of programming and chip he has got," he said, then switching the device off. He then came up behind the workers holding Sniper, nodding for them to walk on, the fourth soldier in the lead. The workers then started walking forwards toward the lab, with Sniper walking with them, terrified out of his metallic armouring. He then sent out a distress message to Metal Sonic.

**-The Death Egg-**

Metal got the incoming message, opening it up on his scanner. It was from Metal Sniper.

_Help me…_


	14. Marilyn

**Aww… Sniper's in trouble and Callie and Techno-Matter are upset for Emmi… But will Emmi truly return as Callie predicts? And will Metal discover that Mecha Klaus is planning to call the attack soon and save Sniper? What will happen? Find out in this chapter!**

Metal immediately ran to find Sniper. "Sniper?" he called, rushing about. "Sniper!" "I'm here," Sniper said, walking up behind him. Metal turned around. "Are you alright?" Metal asked, worried. "Yes," Sniper said. "Why, what's happened?" "You sent me a distress message saying you needed help," Metal replied. "You must be malfunctioning," Sniper said. "No," Metal said. "I may be slightly outdated, but I know you sent me it." He then paused, giving Sniper an awkward look. "Send me a message," he commanded. "Why?" Sniper asked. "Do it!" Metal shouted. Sniper didn't seem to show fear, which he'd usually do if shouted at. "Okay, okay, geez," he muttered, sending Metal a message.

_**INCOMING MESSAGE – UNKNOWN CONTACT**_

_Happy now?_

"…What did you send?" Metal asked. "Happy Now?" Sniper repeated. "You were unknown," Metal said. "No robots who are part of this base are unknown, and they cannot be deleted." Sniper said nothing in response, lost for an answer. Metal made a sudden move, using the side of his arm to pin him against the wall. "Who are you?" he questioned. "I'm your brother, Sniper!" Sniper answered. "No, you're not!" Metal hollered. "Who are you? Tell me now!" Sniper said nothing. Metal looked deep into Sniper's eyes, and saw that they pulled a different expression. His eyes widened angrily, brightening red. "Mecha Klaus!" he hissed.

**-GUN Fortress-**

Sniper was shackled by his wrists and ankles, with hardly anywhere to move. He was in what looked like a tiny animal pen to hold one animal, and the metallic fencing went up to his nose, but for other hedgehogs it would be up to their shoulder.

Luckily Sniper was not alone. There were other pens next to him. His row had about five or six pens line up all together. Next to him on his left Sniper saw a human girl with a familiar looking face. She resembled Callie in a way, but her eye colour was red, which was unusual for a human - her eye colour was the same as Shadow's. She wore a buttoned blue shirt and blue shorts, along with blue trainers with white laces. And her hair was blonde, tied back in a pony-tail. The girl was in the same position as he was.

Sniper was quiet at first, then looking at her. "What happens to people who are here?" he asked. The girl looked at him, still with her head down slightly. "It depends what you are," she replied. "We'll be different from one another," "Has anything happened to you yet?" Sniper asked. The girl shook her head, then clenched her chained fists. "I will kill every last soldier in this fortress…" she growled.

"Why would you do that?" Sniper questioned, surprised. The girl looked at him. Her face was filled with hatred. "They killed my best friend…" she responded. "My only friend… I could have saved her if it wasn't for Gerald and Shadow…" Those names were familiar to Sniper. Gerald was the grandfather of his creator, Ivo, and Shadow was the hedgehog who was created by Gerald to save Maria.

Maria… The girl Callie is related two and looks like in a way.

The girl that _this _girl looks like in a way.

No, she almost looked like a twin.

"What happened?" Sniper asked, still curious. The girl sighed and looked away. "If I must explain it, then I will," she exhaled. "Wait, before you explain," Sniper interrupted. "What is your name?" "Marilyn," the girl answered. "Marilyn Robotnik."

**-The Death Egg-**

"Why are you here?" Metal asked angrily. "I'm not telling you anything!" Klaus snapped. Metal pressed him against the wall harder, slightly crushing him. Klaus hissed at the feeling of his armour cracking and circuits snapping. "Tell me what you have done to Sniper!" Metal yelled. Klaus stayed silent. "Tell me!" Metal repeated. Klaus then laughed menacingly. "GUN are reprogramming him to be on their side," he answered. "They can't do that – he's control-proof!" Metal corrected. "Then they're going to destroy him," Klaus altered. Metal crushed him harder, making him growl with slight pain. "I swear on Callie's life, if any harm comes to my little brother I will tear out every wire in your system one by one until you have deactivated!" Metal hissed. "Oh, so you'd swear on the little girl's life," Klaus mocked, making Metal angrier. "What life of hers will you have to swear on once I have her head on a pole as a trophy?" Metal crushed him even harder with his arm. "You won't be able to go near her!" Metal snarled. "One step near her will be your demise!" "Will it?" Klaus asked. "Or will it lead to Callie's?" "Give me Sniper's belt and get out of here before I destroy you!" Metal demanded. "You know you can't destroy me, Metal!" Klaus taunted. Metal gave a fierce expression, locking eyes with Klaus. His face gave the message saying that he would do it. However, Klaus only reacted with a smug gaze, as if grinning; his expression telling Metal that he should give it his best shot. As Metal's look gave more of a warning, he then weakened his strength in his arm and dropped it to his side, looking away as he attempted to close his eyes and sigh. "I always knew you were weak…" Klaus insulted.

**-GUN Fortress-**

"You're a Robotnik?" Sniper asked. Marilyn nodded. "So… You're Callie's sister?" Sniper questioned. "Who is Callie?" Marilyn asked. "My creator's daughter," Sniper answered. "And who is your creator?" Marilyn questioned curiously. "Ivo Robotnik," Sniper said. Marilyn recognised the name. "That was my friend's younger cousin…" she said quietly. "Who was your friend?" asked Sniper, hearing her. "Maria Robotnik," Marilyn responded.

"Wait, how come you're not related to her if you're a Robotnik who looks almost identical to her?" Sniper questioned. Marilyn sighed. "I'm an experiment," Marilyn announced. "I'll tell you what I was going to tell you a few minutes ago – it all started over 50 years ago."

"_Gerald Robotnik was told to try and develop immortality, but he refused. When his granddaughter, Maria, developed NIDS, he then agreed to do it – but he was only doing it for Maria so that he could use the same fruits that he used on the experiment to save her. He first started off with the Biolizard, which was just a prototype of something he called the Ultimate Life Form. Gerald didn't really like the idea of a violent immortal lizard, so he came up with a better idea – making a clone of Maria. That clone was me."_

"_To perform this he needed some of Maria's DNA and the same fruits he used on the Biolizard, along with agility, strength, power and intelligence. Out of the capsule stepped me in my white dress, which I decided to change into what I'm wearing now. Maria befriended me, and whenever I aged so did I. But it wasn't until Gerald had the idea of transferring the disease into me. Because I was human, I ended up catching it and being unable to successfully sustain it. I became very sick, and Gerald couldn't help me, so classed me as a failure and tossed me out to Earth. The last thing I saw on the ARK was a black and red hedgehog being created."_

"_For some reason when I landed the seawater seemed to cure me. I wanted to get back to Maria and tell her the cure, until about a year later Shadow's capsule landed. He told me that Maria was killed by a GUN soldier. In my anger, I blamed it all on him."_

"_GUN soldiers came and found us. They captured us and tested us both. I managed to escape before we were taken to Prison Island. Shadow looked at me, wanting me to help him as I was escaping, but I didn't. Not after what he did. GUN killed Maria for helping him. They wanted Shadow and that was it. They NEVER wanted me, up until Shadow's creation."_

"_Then Shadow joined GUN. I don't know why, but he did. He forgot totally about Maria. Unless, of course, he planned to kill her all along. With Black Doom's blood, it's believable. Shadow then found be and brought me here, where my final experiments are to be made."_

Sniper didn't know what to say. He thought Shadow would never forgive GUN about what they did to Maria. He thought he would try killing them all. But he didn't – he joined them and captured the last thing alive that lived aboard the ARK, besides himself and the Commander.

After a small amount of time Sniper spoke. "I…I never knew that half of the story…" he said quietly. "Nobody has," Marilyn replied. "I'm surprised Ivo ever spoke of it," "Callie found out about her when she was young," Sniper said. "She told me her ghost came to visit her." Sniper then looked down sadly. "I don't think I'll ever be able to see Callie again…" he admitted. Marilyn felt sorry for him. She reached her arm out to put it around him to help comfort him, but the chains prevented her from reaching him. Sniper looked at her, then reaching out for her hand, just managing to make contact with her. They looked each other in the eye. "You never told me your name," Marilyn said. "What is it?" "Metal Sniper," Sniper answered. "Metal Sniper the Hedgehog."


	15. Ressurection

**I've changed the front cover to the story. How does it look? If you look at it you can see Callie and Metal Sonic with a view of Mobius from the Death Egg, but if you look closely you can see a picture of Maria dying, which takes up most of the space on the cover. So when you look at it next time, be sure to try and see Maria! Now on with the story!**

Klaus continued to insult Metal. "You're pathetic, Metal Sonic! And I think I know what it is – friends. I _have_ no friends, which makes me tough. And trust me; I can help you with that. I'll just kill your remaining friends!" he threatened, then flying off through the corridors. Metal, with his quick reflexes, flew after him angrily. "If you cause me to lose one more friend you will die at my hands!" he shouted.

**-The Moon-**

Sparks sparked around a certain spot wildly. Faster and stronger, until a small explosion of light was seen. When the light began fading, a metallic hand shot out of the surface, and then another, pulling up its weight. Out came a violet metal hedgehog; its pink eyes brightening in rage.

**-GUN Fortress-**

Sniper and Marilyn were getting deep into a conversation. "Ever heard of Marilyn Monroe?" Marilyn asked. Sniper researched on his scanners. "That really popular actor who died when she was 36?" he asked. "That's the one," Marilyn answered. "She was my favourite actor as a young kid," "How are you still a kid now?" Sniper questioned, tilting his head. "Maria died at twelve, therefor I remain twelve," Marilyn explained. Sniper still had his head tilted, confused. "Hence when I said that I aged with her," Marilyn continued. Sniper took about a minute to figure out what she meant, and then nodded once. "Now I get it!" he said.

"So, is there anything about you?" Marilyn asked. Sniper thought for a moment. "I'm not very confident," he eventually said. "Then why were you brought here?" questioned Marilyn. Sniper thought, and then remembered. His orange irises appeared to enlarge. Marilyn noticed. "What?" she asked. "Mecha Klaus…" Sniper gasped. "He's replaced me aboard the Death Egg! He's going to kill everyone aboard it!"

Marilyn held his hand reassuringly. "Sniper," she said. "We're gonna get outta here; we'll be able to save your friends." Sniper looked at her. "Are you sure?" he asked. Marilyn nodded. "We have to get out. We're not letting GUN win against us!" "Someone shut those experiments up!" one of the researchers demanded. "Don't worry, Carl, they won't be able to escape," another researcher assured. "Project Sniper has no powers and no strength, while Project Marilyn is locked down – there's no way they can escape. Even if they did, they wouldn't get very far."

Sniper heard this, feeling a little demotivated. "Sniper, don't listen to them," Marilyn commanded. "We'll get out of here. You just have to believe it," "I will," Sniper nodded. "I just hope my friends are okay…"

**-The Death Egg-**

Swiftly, Mecha Klaus glided through the base, Metal Sonic at his rear. Klaus was able to keep ahead, and suddenly was miles in front of him. There were so many corners and bends to turn around that Metal Sonic was soon completely off the chase.

Klaus managed to find Callie still with Techno-Matter. They both looked at him. "Sniper?" Callie asked. "Wrong," Klaus replied, sounding as if mocking. He pointed his built-in laser and charged it up. Callie gasped, clinging to Techno-Matter as if she was a mother protecting a petrified child. But just before Klaus could fire, a red laser beam hit him on the side of the head. Klaus turned around, annoyed. There, standing before him with their weapon pointed, was EMMI.

"Did you miss me?" EMMI asked, smirking. Klaus growled, pointing his laser at her. "You!" he hissed. "I thought GUN got Mecha to murder you as a hedgehog!" "Unfortunately they managed to do that," EMMI admitted. "However, my robotic aspect cannot be removed fully, therefore I once again respawned," "Well, this time, I'll make sure you die!" Klaus snarled, firing a laser. EMMI summersaulted out of the way. She fired another laser at Klaus, getting him in the chest. Klaus growled, firing back at her with a charged-up blast, which knocked her back and down – giving him possibly enough time to kill Callie and Techno-Matter.

Callie let go of Techno and charged at Klaus, punching and kicking at him. Klaus avoided each attempt by moving to the side without moving his feet, and he then decided to grab both of Callie's fists. Before Callie could kick him he pushed her hard right to the back of the room, causing her to make a dent in the metallic wall. Callie grunted in pain.

EMMI sprung back to her feet and ran at Klaus, jumping onto his back. Techno-Matter fired his machine guns at Klaus while EMMI held him in place. Klaus eventually became severely damaged, and EMMI threw him on the floor like a school bully would with their victim. "Eggman should have killed you right from the beginning," she growled, approaching him. Klaus tried to get back to his feet, but EMMI kicked him back down. "Stay down, Kludd!" she hissed. "My name is no longer Kludd thanks to your stupid creator!" Klaus snarled. "It's Mecha Klaus now!" "I don't care what your name is! Get out of our base before I tear you apart – and return Metal Sniper to us safely!" "Never!" Klaus yelled. "Then I guess we're gonna do this the hard way…" EMMI uttered.

**-GUN Fortress-**

Night had fallen on Earth, and the laboratory of the Fortress was shut down for the night. Marilyn and Sniper were still awake, talking. "Now's our chance to escape! Marilyn whispered. Sniper saw guards standing outside of the room with their shotguns and shook his head. "There are guards about," he said. "And without our abilities, we've got no chance against any of them," "Then how do you suggest we escape?" Marilyn quizzed. "Just sit here awaiting torture and escape when they're done with us?" "All I can think of is begging," Sniper admitted. "Begging?" Marilyn asked, with a tone of doubt. "Yes," Sniper replied. "It actually works when I do it. It's the eyes that get people," "Yeah, right," Marilyn sneered. But when she looked back at Sniper he had the largest eyes anyone could possibly see in their life. She tried looking away, but the face was too innocent to ignore. "…Oh, alright!" she surrendered. "But what do we do after begging?" "Run?" Sniper suggested. Marilyn nodded. "Run," she repeated.

**-The Death Egg-**

Metal saw Callie running towards him. "Callie? Are you alright? Where's Mecha Klaus?" Metal asked hurriedly. "Metal, it's okay!" Callie assured joyfully. "EMMI has sorted him out! She saved me and Techno-Matter from him!" "What?" Metal asked, confused. "Callie, EMMI died. You know that – she isn't coming back," "But Metal, she's really here!" Callie convinced. "Listen to her," a voice said. Metal turned and saw EMMI with his own eyes. "EMMI… you're alive…" he said quietly, surprised. "I never die, Metal," EMMI reminded. "I never die."

"Is Techno happy to see you?" Metal asked. "He's in shock at the moment," EMMI responded. "And what about Klaus?" Metal questioned. "I have disabled his powers and tied him up," EMMI answered. "And in case he tries hopping away, I locked him in a cell deep down, and it would take him a long time to figure a way out," "You've always been the smart one," Callie pointed out. "You make the feminine robots seem cooler than the masculine." Metal folded his arms, glaring at Callie. Callie noticed this. "Aw, come on, Mets, I'm messing with you!" she smiled, pecking his metallic cheek. If he was alive his cheeks would have flushed, but instead his eyes went green. EMMI giggled at him. "Stop laughing…" Metal growled, turning away as he was embarrassed. EMMI and Callie were still giggling at him. Callie then nudged his shoulder. "Hey, cheer up! At least Mecha Klaus hasn't killed us all, right?" "…I suppose so…" Metal agreed. "But we still need to rescue Sniper before it's too late."


	16. Repayed Delays

**EMMI is back! What will Techno-Matter think when he speaks to her? And will Sniper's pathetic plan of escape work? Find out!**

Klaus was sitting in a Solitary Confinement room. He sat on the wooden chair with his head down, angry. Metal stood, looking at him through the small, barred window on the door. He was about to open the door, until Callie grabbed his arm. Not in a tight grip, more of a loose grip. Metal turned to face her. "Metal, don't go in there. He's still dangerous," Callie warned. "I need to find out where Sniper is," Metal responded. "Klaus will destroy you!" Callie reminded. "It's my fault he's like this," Metal admitted. "If I hadn't disobeyed Eggman and left him to die, then this wouldn't have happened," "And if you hadn't released him Sniper wouldn't have been created," Callie added. Metal fell silent for a moment. "…I'll be careful," he eventually finalized. "If he attacks me, then I'll fight him," "But what if he destroys you?" Callie asked. Metal clenched his fists, angered of the thought. "…Then I need you to find Sniper and make sure he's okay," he eventually answered, entering the room.

As Metal entered, Klaus looked up with a cold stare. Metal returned the same gaze as he began the interrogation. "Why did you do it?" he asked angrily. "Why did you come aboard this station? How did you find us? …You're spying on us for GUN, aren't you?" Klaus said nothing in response, but brightened his irises and hissed. "How long has Sniper been in captivity?" Metal questioned. Klaus fell silent, then looked down a little. "…What is the matter, Klaus? Can't you time?" Metal asked. Klaus shook his head. Metal found that somewhat interesting. A robot who didn't know mathematics.

"So you cannot answer any questions to do with timing?" Metal questioned. Klaus shook his head. Metal turned to walk out, finding that questioning Klaus was now useless. Klaus, still not disarmed, pointed his laser at Metal behind his back, ready to destroy him. Callie noticed this, and gasped. "Metal, look out!" she warned. Metal turned quickly, and saw the red beam of light quickly coming at him. He wasn't quick enough to move, and the laser pierced right through his body. The laser also just skimmed Callie's arm, leaving a fleshy scold-wound. She yelped and turned her attention to Metal, who had no lost his balance. "Metal!" Callie shrieked, catching him as he collapsed. She was filled with horror. Klaus laughed evilly, then walking closer and pointing his laser at Callie. Callie looked up at him fearfully. "Now it's you turn," he said to her.

**-GUN Fortress-**

Sniper's eyes slowly switched on, and his hearing slowly adjusted. He somehow knew that he wasn't where he was before. When everything was clear, he wanted himself to just return to sleep-mode. He was in a test-tube, being scanned and experimented on. He looked around, seeing that he was nearby where he used to be – he could see Marilyn through the glass, still where she was. She was looking at him, as if asking what plan B was. Sniper didn't know, nor did he know how to even communicate with Marilyn from where he was. But there was one thing he made clear right away – plan A had failed.

Sniper could see Marilyn doing a small wave to get his attention. He looked at her, and she pulled the sort of innocent expression that he would pull. Sniper then realised that she was telling him to do 'the eyes' to try escaping, which he did. He bleeped quietly to try and get the attention of a passing worker, who shot an annoyed glance at him. His eyes looked up at him innocently, like he did with Marilyn. The worker stared at him for a moment, and both Sniper and Marilyn thought it was working. The worker then shook it off and said, "Don't give me that look, trash-can!"

**-The Death Egg-**

Callie held Metal tightly, flinching as she prepared for a burning pain that would kill her. Metal, though, was still on. He hadn't been shut down yet, and managed to use his Black Shield to protect them both from the incoming blast from Klaus. Klaus growled angrily, then thought of a plan. A plan that would have made him smirk if he had a mouth. Klaus waited for Metal's power to run down and for him to deactivate, then he could kill Callie and destroy Metal for good. Metal tried his best to keep his shield up for as long as possible, until it started to fade. Klaus got ready to fire. Callie held Metal closer to her, knowing that the shield was going down.

Just as the shield faded, a laser shot Klaus over. He grunted and looked around. EMMI was standing there, her arm-cannon smoking from the blast. "Are you always going to interfere?" Klaus asked angrily. "If it means saving my friends, then yes," EMMI answered. As Klaus was about to battle her, Techno-Matter grabbed him. "Let me go!" Klaus shouted. Techno pointed his machine gun to Klaus' face. "Listen to me, worm," he growled in his emotionless voice. "If you make one more move to try attacking anyone else in this base, then I will single-handedly destroy you. Understand?" Klaus only hissed at him. Techno crushed him slightly, then threw him to the ground, kicking him various times until he shut-down to save loss of his intelligence. Techno looked at him with a vacant stare, then looked over to Callie and Metal.

"Are you okay?" Techno-Matter asked. Callie nodded fearfully, then looking down at the now-deactivated Metal. Techno walked up beside her. "He'll be okay," he assured. "I know," Callie muffled. "It's just… sad seeing him like this. I know I'm used to it now after he has been defeated many times, but it will always be awful," "That was my thought every time EMMI was killed," Techno compared. "But when she died as a hedgehog it was different," "I understand that," Callie agreed. "We'd better get him fixed," "But what about Sniper?" asked EMMI. "…He'll have to wait," Callie announced. "Without Metal Sonic, we'd be making a death wish."

**-GUN Fortress-**

Sniper had been watching Marilyn break free from her shackles and jump out of her "pen". Every worker was now after her. She was about to make a run for it until looking back at Sniper, who looked innocently at her. She ran back and decided to help him, smashing her fist on a green button that released him from the test-tube. "Come with me," she said, grabbing his hand firmly and running, as if she was trying to commit suicide. Sniper was amazed at how quick she was, almost tripping over. He was usually quite a fast runner, but that must have been reduced to a "small child's" speed. They were both being shot at, but Marilyn, quick and ninja-like, was able to avoid the bullets. It was okay if Sniper was shot because he was titanium.

Marilyn turned a corner, and her path was blocked by soldiers. She turned back around the way she came, which was also blocked by soldiers. She and Sniper backed into each other, until their backs were touching. "Stand down," one of the soldiers said. Sniper shivered in response. Marilyn, though, raised both her hands slowly. But when her arms reached the back of her head, she pulled out two blades and attacked them, causing the soldiers to fire at both her and Sniper. Sniper crouched down to avoid being hit, just in case his titanium had been strength-reduced to a small child's skin.

Just minutes later, and blood had been spilled by Marilyn's blades. She was good. How had she been hiding those blades the whole time in her captivity?

Marilyn Robotnik must be the true Ultimate Life Form.


End file.
